The Best Laid Plans
by Loralei Dawson
Summary: The Planet makes a simple plan, but chooses a complicated hero.
1. Chapter 1

**Beloved Brother,**

This story is similar to that cake you like.

The layers are drama, and the humor is the jelly.

Which is mostly in the subtext, so the jelly is inside the layers.

But jelly is kind of sticky, and I think my humor is more sardonic than tacky, so maybe the humor is in the layers.

Which would make the drama the sticky part, and I will admit, it got a bit hard to write at times, but it should be easy to read.

That is, if you have an expansive vocabulary, which you do.

So the vocabulary is like the whipped topping, and if you can see the story underneath all that, you must have read a thesaurus in your childhood like I did.

Except, I think you read the dictionary instead, but that means you won't have any trouble parsing the meaning.

Which is probably the fork.

The parsing, I mean, so dig right in, and enjoy it like cake.

I made it just for you. Although, it may be slightly overdone...

****Prologue****

To start with, Cloud's consciousness was sent back in time.

That isn't exactly the beginning, though. Perhaps, first, it should be understood that The Calamity wasn't the true threat. Sephiroth wasn't either, as he managed thirty years without any apparent desire to burn mountain towns, assassinate Presidents or summon __Meteor__ to end all known life. The two together, though, were a catastrophe. Active cells from Calamity injected into a still forming baby resulted in a level of awareness that the alien hadn't had for millennia. Without Sephiroth, the SOLDIER program and its subsets wouldn't have been enough; inactive cells given to adults made for some bizarre mutations, but only the one with it embedded in his DNA, calling out to "Mother", was sufficient to wake The Calamity.

Even this destructive duo wouldn't have been enough, had it not been for the mako reactors. The Planet had kept The Calamity asleep and harmless since time immemorial. By the time Gaia became aware of the awakened threat, too much of the surface mako had been diverted away. If the alien devourer had been lowered deep into The Planet's core, perhaps even then, the end could have been prevented.

They understood too late. So few left able to hear Gaia's whispers, and none who could truly interpret. So when life withered away, and all that was left were spirits floating aimlessly in a Lifestream with nowhere to send them, some few, strong voices spoke a path into existence. There was not enough left of ... anything ... to remember a time very long ago. But they remembered The Calamity lifted above the crust, above the upper pathways and rivers of mako. High in a mountain, up in the cold peaks of Nibelheim.

Nothing physical could be sent, of course. A vision could be shown, but the only ones who might know it for that, and not dismiss it as a nightmare would be a red-furred creature in a hidden canyon, and a flower girl in the slums of Midgar. Both more likely to be dissected or experimented on than believed or followed. They could seek a way to heal the surface of damage from the reactors, but who would they tell? Who would aid them?

To send back someone's spirit, with all their knowledge and experiences, was unlikely to work. One's self is contained, defined; not so malleable as to make way for an intruder. Even if it was your own future mind, it was unlikely to 'stick'. If only there was someone whose sense of self was less solid, less concrete. Whose mind wasn't quite arranged like everyone else's.

Or if it was the other way around. If many pieces and shards were contained in a single spirit, and it was sent back, some should settle into the younger self before the rest were lost. They wouldn't even have to exist long. There was one who lived in Nibelheim. The Calamity was sealed in its reactor, but there was mako pumping all around it. All he would have to do is open the door to the alien's containment unit. The Planet would do the rest. There would still be dangers, but this would buy the time needed to fix them. It was an easy decision. Who else was so perfectly suited? He was not aware enough to ask, but if there was anyone willing to sacrifice themselves, it was he. They would whisper what must be done, and he could save all.

They took everything that made up Cloud Strife and gathered it into a center core, and all that he had picked up from others was folded around it. Surely they would be the most likely to be lost, and the inner core would be most likely to bind to his younger self. All the strongest spirits, all the voices left in the flickering Lifestream put all their power into sending this one swiftly down the wisp of Lifestream that remembered the past.

This would have been the perfect solution. Except...they chose Cloud Strife.

****Chapter 1****

Brightness burned his eyes, and cold pierced his lungs. He shuddered a few desperate breaths, and shaded his eyes against the light. He'd heard people speak of expecting lights after death, but why the cold? Once his lungs stopped seizing, the light beyond his eyelids didn't seem so harsh. So he opened his eyes and took stock of his surroundings. The sight that greeted him was...unexpected. That mountain looked just like Nibel Peak, and the light was from the sun glinting sharply off the snow all around him.

__Save us.__

He didn't quite startle, but did attempt to execute a quick spin to see who spoke. His feet didn't move as fast as his torso, and he kind of twisted around and stumbled. Still, he didn't see anyone.

__You were sent back to save us.__

Still no one, but Cloud was used to hearing disembodied voices. "Aerith?" It didn't sound like her exactly, but she was the most likely, considering he wasn't currently fighting for his life.

__Reunion will destroy us all, stop Sephiroth and Calamity from joining.__

That was fainter than before, but he hadn't moved, and why would a voice talking to him drift farther away? Wait, the last Reunion happened a long time ago. It happened several times over the course of...was it years? Maybe months.

__Calamity must be...returned to the Lifestream.__

Cloud sat down and scratched his head in confusion. His hair felt strange. His hand felt strange. So did his back end, but that was because sitting down in the snow made you quite damp. Hearing voices, and not remembering how he got to his current location meant he was probably having one of those episodes where his body wasn't synced up right. What had Reeve called it? Dysphoria, or was it Disassociation? Pretty fancy words for a lousy sensation. Still, he'd had less of those the more time between him and his latest dunking in the Lifestream.

__Return Calamity.__

This time he did startle. Yeah, definitely having an episode. If dying made you part of the Lifestream, then was he going to do this for his entire afterlife?

__You were...sent back...in time.__

That was unlikely. Sometimes if you fell into the Lifestream in one place, you popped out in a different spot. Time will have gone by in the mean time. Forward, not backward. Pretty sure there would have been a big deal about it if traveling to the past was possible.

__Save us.__

Quieter still, but annoyingly persistent. Cloud sighed. Fine; the afterlife was cold and damp and looked like the Nibel mountains, which was not his idea of a happy ending. He would make his way up to where the reactor used to be, to reassure the...voice...that Jenova was gone, and then maybe he could move on to some place more pleasant. He was hoping to see Zack and Aerith again, but he refused to believe they got stuck in a section of afterlife that resembled Nibelheim.

ooOOOoo

It was taking too long to get there. His perception of time was always a little off during an episode, but climbing up the trails, and through snowdrifts was taking way longer than it should. He triple checked landmarks, so knew he was on track to where the reactor's remains should be. His geography was pretty good overall, and he knew these mountainous paths like...well, not the back of his hand. He was very carefully not looking at his hand, because it still felt strange. He was getting pretty tired, too. It was like his legs were too short and out of shape to walk through the snow easily.

"Don't think about it, it will just make it worse." He muttered.

It was late Spring snow, so a little slushy and slippery, but not very deep. He was cold, but not enough to freeze, and judging by the sun it couldn't be long after mid-day. Just, avoid monsters instead of fighting. He had no weapons, and didn't think he could rely on his hand-to-hand in this state.

Finally, he came to where the old rope bridge used to be, looked up, and saw the reactor. As it used to be, not as it was after Barrett and Tifa went on that drunken rage bender around the world. They had blown up everything that definitely belonged to Shinra, probably belonged to Shinra, and was maybe rented out once or twice to Shinra.

__Return...Calamity.__

The voice sounded a bit hoarser, as if the effort to talk was wearing it out. Cloud shook his head. This struck him wrong. The voice didn't sound like Aerith at all.

Save ... us ...

He'd never heard a voice so faint howl. It sounded a bit like a sick Nibel wolf pup. Which was fitting, considering where he was. Only, wolves couldn't speak, and Aerith's voice was distinct, and always called him by name so he wouldn't get confused as to who she was talking to.

"You're not Aerith." He stated flatly.

_**_Gaia_**___ ... return ... Calamity ...__

That was when he __knew__ it was all wrong. The episode he could ignore, randomly appearing on the Nibel mountains, sure why not, not as strange as the Northern Crater. But he wasn't an Ancient. He had no Cetra blood, The Planet __couldn't talk to him__. But...he had heard a hoarse, somewhat female voice before, that wasn't Aerith's.

__Return...__

"Jenova." He growled out.

__YES ... return ..__.

"NO! I won't! You can't make me __poison__ the Lifestream with your disgusting waking corpse!" He felt a pressure in his head, and a nearly frantic crooning,

__NO__ __... save us__ __... return ...__

Cloud screamed. In fear from the pressure, in rage from the situation. Not this time. Never again. He wrenched himself backwards, and scrabbled on his hands and knees down the path. Farther and farther, until the pressure was gone. Then he stumbled to his feet and ran blindly, wildly, down the mountain. The voice sounded a few more times, desperate, hoarser, fainter, until he heard it no more. He kept running, sometimes falling, his body becoming increasingly uncoordinated from fatigue. He ran until he was ill, and his lungs burned, and his legs trembled, and still he ran. When he crested the hill leading to Nibelheim, he stopped so quickly he nearly fell over backwards, just catching himself in time.

Nibelheim looked old. The houses were weather-beaten with the occasional bright new board tacked up in repair. That woman by the water tower looked familiar. He had long forgotten the townsfolk's names, but didn't he know that face? He wandered in a daze to where his house used to be, and it was there. Like the reactor. No, don't think of the reactor until you're far away from...it. He opened the door and stepped inside. It smelled like __mom's stew__ something in him whispered. He paused, and focused inward. Male voice, young, maybe his own? If it was Zack's he'd be in Gongaga. No, that was wrong, if it was Zack's he wouldn't think of it as Mom's. Still not quite right, but definitely Zack or his own self, so safe enough.

He looked around, and there was a pot bubbling in the fireplace, and sitting by the window's light was a woman. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a sloppy braid, and when she looked up, bright blue eyes met with his own.

"Oh, Cloud", the woman smiled rather vaguely, "There's stew if you're hungry."

ooOOOoo

Dinner was quiet, and eaten mostly in a daze. His mom said very little, and his responses consisted of one "uhuh" and one "mm". It was getting dark out by then, and his mom went straight from washing up the dishes to getting ready for bed. He couldn't sleep until he was sure it was safe, no matter how tired he was. Back outside, then. Too cold at night still, so he grabbed the blanket off what must be his bed, and headed towards the door.

Cloud paused just before he turned the knob, and glanced back at his mom. She didn't seem to be paying attention. Was this what he usually did?

"Umm, Mom?" He started hesitatingly.

She was brushing her hair, and after a moment looked up, blinking. "Yes, Cloud?"

"I'm going outside. Be back...a lot later."

"Okay", she said a little carelessly, and went back to getting ready for bed.

Alright then, maybe he hadn't needed to say anything? He walked outside and around the house, but found nowhere to climb onto the roof, so where would be a good place to think? A blurry image of what the town looked like from the water tower came to mind. Right, not far to go then. His leg muscles burned, but were less wobbly now that he'd sat for awhile and eaten, so pretty soon he'd climbed up its ladder, and settled down with his blanket keeping the night chill off his shoulders.

Miz Emily. That's who the lady earlier had been. This was actually Nibelheim. Not that creepy knock-off Shinra made to cover up what happened, but the real thing. Cloud grit his teeth, and looked very closely and carefully at his hands. They looked like a smaller version of what he knew his own looked like. No images of other people's hands superimposed themselves over what he saw. He cocked his head to listen. No voices, no maniacal laughter. He studied the few buildings that could be seen from his vantage point. It was nearly complete dark, so not much detail, but they most certainly weren't on fire.

This was no afterlife. So as absurd as it was to think, maybe he __was__ in the past. Jenova never did manage to leave The Planet to go devour other worlds, so maybe when she died, she sort of hovered in the Lifestream like Aerith. But to send him back in time? Actually...that made perfect sense. She wanted him to "return" her to the Lifestream, where no doubt she intended to consume The Planet through it's very heart, and then use the energy to leave and repeat elsewhere. Jenova said Reunion between her and Sephiroth mustn't happen. That might have been just her trying to trick him. On the other hand, while the two together managed to destroy...just about everything, several times over, maybe she couldn't leave when they're united. Nearly a win-win situation for that monstrosity. Convince the "puppet" to return you and: destruction and finally getting to a new world. If that fails: consume all life again.

Which put Cloud and the unknowing entire world's population at risk. Sephiroth and Cloud were the only ones she could control that he ever knew of, so if he stayed away, and stopped Sephiroth, and found a way to destroy her completely and utterly, then it would just be the mako reactors threatening everyone's very existence.

The reactors...were a problem completely beyond his ability to change. Despite what AVALANCHE wanted to think, blowing them up only fixed the problem when Shinra became unable to make more. Destroying Shinra wasn't something just one person could do, either. AVALANCHE destroyed the main thing that made their money, Sephiroth killed the President, the army was decimated by malfunctioning robots, the last SOLDIERs went rogue and died gruesome deaths after Hojo destroyed his research before trying to destroy the world, and Reeve said that three fourths of the Turks simply vanished. The dying in obscure "accidents" kind, not the "I retired" kind. And the company still kept functioning. In the end, the only thing able to take Shinra down was __Meteor__, and that was not something Cloud ever wanted to see again.

Really, of all their attempts to save the world, the only one they ever succeeded at was killing Sephiroth. Crazy scientists and Jenova brought him back over and over, but Cloud killed him every time. Usually by himself. The first time Cloud wasn't even SOLDIER. If Sephiroth was dead, and Cloud stayed far away from Nibelheim, there would be no one to hear or do Jenova's bidding. Maybe Hojo, but his plans had always seemed to revolve around a live Sephiroth.

Cloud leaned back against the drum of the water tower, tilted his head up to gaze at the stars, and started to plan.

ooOOOoo

The night on the water tower was long and cold. Whenever his eyes blinked closed too long, and his head started nodding, he'd take off the blanket, stretch, and wait until the shivering made him wide awake. He didn't dare sleep, though. He didn't know how far Jenova could reach. That day was so confusing to remember. Cloud, and Zack, and Sephiroth, and Tifa all remembered it differently, and inside his head, it was like shattering an elaborately patterned vase and then gluing it all back together wrong. First Shinra Mansion burned, then Nibelheim, and then Sephiroth went up to the reactor. Yeah, that was right. Which meant that Jenova could talk to him as far down as town, right? But was Cloud able to be affected? He ran his hand through his hair in frustration and his gaze caught on the dim silhouettes of the nearby houses. Dawn was just breaking, and the morning sun made the town look like it was on fire. He shook his head and blinked. It wasn't burning, it was just the sunrise. Cloud climbed down the ladder on limbs numb with fatigue and cold, and stumbled back to his house. He needed to get out of here. Away from Nibelheim, and away from...he sighed. Just away.

The door creaked a bit on its hinges, but he moved as quietly as he could across the floor. Would his mom be awake? Cloud had tried so hard to remember more about her last night, but she remained a barely-there presence in his memories. She appeared to still be sleeping, but light was starting to filter in through the window. The log basket was nearly empty, so he got up and stirred the banked embers, fed them the last couple sticks of wood, and headed outside again. Locating the woodpile took a moment, and by the time he filled the basket and went back inside the sun was past rising.

His mom was sitting up and combing her fingers through her hair. She blinked blearily at Cloud.

He set the container down, and smiled tentatively at her. "Morning, Mom."

"Morning Cloud," she yawned.

He looked at her and waited.

She looked at him and waited.

Cloud looked away and fidgeted. So did he inherit the whole not talking much thing from his mom along with his looks? She didn't say much at dinner either. He really had no idea how to explain what he had to do. Well, maybe not explain. There wasn't any way to make it believable. Just, say what he was going to do. He left before, he would do so again.

She had gotten dressed, hair pulled back in a slipshod braid, and was on her way to the fireplace.

"You eat yet?"

Cloud shook his head, but she was facing away, so he said, "No."

No response was forthcoming, but she started doing something with a frying pan and some foodstuffs from the cold box, so Cloud walked over to sit at the table.

After they had eaten a portion of something Cloud didn't know the name for, he straightened up and said seriously, "Mom, I'm going to go to Midgar."

She startled a bit but then smiled, "What for, Cloud?"

"To join SOLDIER." That wasn't exactly why, but it was an ostensibly good reason for him to head there.

Her eyes looked a bit more focused, as her smile became less vague and more amused. "You're too young."

"I'll tell them I'm older than I am." That had gotten him into the infantry. He didn't get in SOLDIER before and he honestly didn't remember why, but he'd make sure he'd made it this time. He'd falsify records if necessary. He wasn't trying to get into the program, he just needed access to Sephiroth.

"They'll look at your size and know you're too young." She responded, starting to look distracted again.

"I just haven't hit my last growth spurt. Once I do it'll be fine. It should be soon, too." Cloud said confidently. He had been taller than this when he met Zack, but that was after he'd been in Midgar for awhile. He probably got taller on his way last time or something. And this trip would take longer, even if all went smoothly, so no worries there.

His mom just shook her head a little and started clearing away the dishes.

Cloud walked over to the corner his bed was in. He folded up his extra clothes, and looked around for a satchel of some kind. There was one on a row of pegs on the wall, next to some drying plants and a basket. He packed it neatly. There was twenty-three gil in a box next to his bed, along with a book and a few toys that had seen better days. He gathered them up into a pile, and turned to his mom.

"Do we have any dried food, like jerky?"

She gave him a look he couldn't quite decipher, then sighed. "There's some dried things next to the cold box."

He was probably supposed to know that already. There wasn't very much, but it would have to do. He packed that also, and headed out the door and into town. There was a general store, right? He walked slowly up to the most likely-looking. The owner was a middle-aged man, familiar, but his name wasn't something Cloud had time to search for just now. Two hours Cloud spent trying to haggle twenty-three gil, a book and the toys for a fire starter, pocket knife, and two knives that looked like they'd do as weapons. Eventually he got the starter and pocketknife, more out of the man being tired of him than any bartering skill on Cloud's part. The owner wouldn't even consider the weapons, which didn't come as a surprise; they had been wishful thinking anyway.

Back to the house, and really, this was not nearly enough preparation, but he needed to get away so he could sleep, and once he was far enough away for that, he certainly wasn't going to return.

His mom was sewing in the chair by the window. She looked up after he cleared his throat.

"I'm leaving now. Goodbye."

"Where are you going?" She asked, looking at the rucksack.

"Midgar." Cloud thought maybe his reply should have been longer or contained more detail, but that was really all he could think to say.

"To join SOLDIER?" She raised an eyebrow, but still wasn't actually making eye contact.

"Yeah."

She made a huffing noise, which was a lot like the sound Cloud made when Reno cracked a joke that was almost funny enough to laugh at. "All right, then. Goodbye." And she went back to sewing.

That was it? Midgar was a long ways away, and he was too young to join SOLDIER, technically. Last time, hadn't she given him a list of things to remember or do or something? He was sure that had been his own mom, and not one of Zack's memories.

"Aren't you going to," Cloud paused, long enough someone else might have looked up or said something, but she didn't, so he continued, "give me some sage advice?"

She made that huffing noise again. "Sage advice?" She sewed a bit more, and then said, "Find someone to take care of you, Cloud. Gaia knows we Strifes need someone to."

That was it. She continued to sew, Cloud couldn't think of anything else to say, and he needed to get going. Should he hug her goodbye? Physical contact would make him more disoriented just now, and he couldn't afford an episode. But if he failed, Cloud wouldn't see her again, so he wanted to have said goodbye properly at least. He walked over and gave her a hesitant kiss on the cheek, and then darted back towards the door. Cloud glanced over his shoulder, but she was looking out the window, so he said nothing more, only kept walking.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Cloud pulled himself forward by his elbows. Keeping a firm grip on a very sturdy sack, he crept along the muddy ground. He was covered in scratches and welts from unforgiving vegetation and stinging insects. He had been hungry for what seemed liked forever by now, and he was getting thirsty enough his tongue felt a little odd. It didn't really matter though, because he was just moments from victory.

There was a quiet rustle and a sort of squishing 'flop-flop' sound, and then, faster than the eye could see, he leaped forward and captured his prize. Swiftly tying the top of the sack together, Cloud ran as far from the rest of the creatures as he could. He was quite good at running these days, and the speed he could reach would only increase the more he trained.

Once he had reached what he judged a safe distance, Cloud paused to get his bearings, and headed for the nearest stream. He was parched, filthy, and should probably eat a little of the food he would need to carefully ration.

He found a mostly not-marshy creek after listening for the sounds of running water, and after a thorough scouting of the nearby area, decided it was safe enough for a fire. Soon he was all washed up, clothes drying by the blaze, a bite of food, and a pat on the sack to...

It really needed a name. Cloud didn't know how to tell if it was male or female, so something generic. The fire burned low, was fed and burned low again, but nothing seemed to suit.

"What shall I name you, little friend?" He muttered while patting the struggling sack.

Huh. __That'll do__. "Little Friend it is."

Cloud's clothes were dry enough, but it was just getting dark, so he'd camp for the night, and fashion his new weapon. He hummed a bit in satisfaction as he whittled away at a stick with a very special purpose. Make it to Gongaga alive? Check. Find, sell, and buy materia? Check. Acquire a touch-me? Check.

ooOOOoo

The next stretch of time passed by in a blur both figurative and literal. He stopped to rest when it became so dark he couldn't see where he was going, and fell asleep as soon as he lay down. The only semi-serious injury he received during the long trek, was near the Corel Mountain range. He was taken by surprise when a Cokatolis and a flock of Needle Kiss attacked him; they weren't usually that far south of the mountains. In the process of eliminating the flock of birds before they petrified him, he misjudged a vicious kick from the Cokotolis, and received a long gash down his leg.

There was probably a life lesson in there somewhere, Cloud mused. Don't get so distracted by details you miss the bigger picture? Only, without details, a picture would be a shapeless blob, so maybe not much of a lesson after all. Less abstractly, a Sense materia would have allowed him to know they were there, and so avoid the fight, so that was something to take away: you can always use more materia.

He found a place to camp early, and settled down to tend his injury. First, __esuna__, to make sure it didn't get infected, then pour on just enough Potion to start it knitting up. Cloud leaned back against a log and rummaged through his pack for a bit of jerky. He filled up the rest of the way on water. There was water everywhere you went, and a precise application of __poisona__ made it safe to drink, but food was hard and time-consuming to come by. He wasn't far from his intended destination now, though, and then he would take a little time to rest and eat some good meals in celebration of a major goal accomplished.

This was the most difficult part of his plan: finding a way to kill Sephiroth that might actually work. His first thoughts had been how he had managed before. Swords had been the primary mechanism. A very long sword that impaled everyone involved, a buster sword that had only seen ceremonial use before Zack and Cloud made it earn its keep, and a very special sword that was designed specifically to kill whatever he needed to end. Anything and everything from Tonberries to Midgar Zoloms to Remnants of Sephiroth. Cloud sighed. __Best. Sword. Ever.__ But even if he had it now, it wouldn't work. All the techniques that made a sword fight against Sephiroth work, needed Cloud to be taller and more muscular.

Cloud cast his thoughts back to that first night in Nibelheim, on the water tower. While he had been stretching, trying to stay awake, he had focused on his size. How strong his hands and arms were. He had been startled at how...small he was. Did he fail SOLDIER before because there was a height requirement? He could start training, of course, but until he was taller and had better reach, a battle of blades wasn't something he would win.

He had seldom fought any other way, so this could be tricky. How had his friends done it? Yuffie had zipped in so fast no one but Cloud was able to dodge, and would deliver what she referred to as "awesome, secret ninja moves". They couldn't have been too secret, though, because she had pestered Cloud to learn them in exchange for his "awesome extra special materia." Cloud was able to dodge, if only barely sometimes, and he wasn't enhanced anymore. Sephiroth was, and so how would Cloud...__special materia__. Yuffie had never bothered with a Time because you could only slot so many of the stones together, and the only one she could never catch was Cloud. But if he could get as fast as her without one, and then train with a Time materia until __haste__ was second nature...it might work. It would take care of the speed issue, anyway, and the "ninja moves" along with a couple very sharp small knives would keep most monsters and muggers from killing his annoyingly small self. He would use his lack of height to advantage, and slip inside everyone's guard.

Sephiroth wouldn't be that easy, though. The chances of getting in a killing hit were slim, and so he needed to stack the deck a bit. __Haste__ would be applied to Cloud, so no problem there, but to rely on __stop__ working was iffy. What if Sephiroth had a Barrier? Or it simply didn't work on him? Magic reacted a bit strangely around powerful individuals, spells didn't always stick. If relying on obscure materia wasn't so risky, he could just use __stop__, __shrink__, and then stomp on the man. The smaller you were, the danger of getting crushed in battle increased. Cloud remembered when he was a kid, everyone always said to be careful of the touch-mes because you might get stepped on before you turned back to normal.

The only place those funny little creatures lived was the jungle of Gongaga. Not Nibelheim. When __Zack__ was a kid, then. Thinking of Sephiroth as a touch-me amused Cloud. Would he still have long silver hair? He let slip a soft laugh, then stopped. Everyone could get turned into a touch-me. It didn't seem to matter who or what you were, you touched one, and that was it. Whatever magic was in them wasn't the same as materia.

Gongaga's materia shop usually stocked a Time. They weren't actually that expensive in the grand scheme of things, but he was rather strapped for gil. He'd need a lot of that for this plan to work. Some good equipment, travel expenses, and the basic necessities of life would all add up fast.

He'd found a rare materia in the jungle there once. Cloud paused to recall. Yes, Red had been with him, so it __was__ Cloud who found it. It would be practically a one-stop-shop. Find that materia, get supplies in Gongaga, catch a touch-me...if he could get there, it might work. Traveling by himself, no supplies, no weapons; this was going to be more dangerous than killing Sephiroth. If Cloud didn't succeed at that, but didn't die, he would probably be imprisoned to await execution. He could escape then, and try again. So really, a first attempt to kill Sephiroth would be less likely to kill Cloud than preparing for it. Maybe it was the late hour, or the stresses of the day, but Cloud thought that was funny. He started giggling. Oh, no, __he__ didn't giggle. Cloud gave a sharp mental poke to that part of his mind that thought cross-dressing was a viable solution. Although, now he really thought about it, a touch-me and a Time materia was something Aerith would like. Or Zack. Or Yuffie. It seemed like his best bet for now, until he hit his growth spurt. Then he'd start training for sword work, and if Sephiroth wasn't dead yet, Cloud would use the old tried and true method.

ooOOOoo

Cloud woke as dawn was breaking. His leg had healed enough to walk safely on it, but if he was going to train his materia, running would have to wait until tomorrow. It was warm enough at night now he didn't need a fire, so there was nothing to breaking camp except grabbing his rucksack/makeshift pillow, and attaching Little Friend to his staff.

Cloud had carved a kind of backrest/platform for the touch-me to rest on, and cut up a piece of cloth into a jumpsuit type shape. With his hands carefully covered, he had scooped the creature's limbs into the holes, and attached a ring to the back of it all. At night, he'd tie it a safe distance away from himself, and make sure it had water. It would hop around eating bugs and grubs and things, and before Cloud set off again, he'd slide the ring over the tip of the staff, and settle Little Friend quite comfortably onto the platform. Cloud was quite proud of how it turned out, and would swear the creature got a look of glee when Cloud would forgo practicing his hand to hand and decide to attack a monster with his Touch-Me-On-A-Stick.

He cast __haste__, smiled at Little Friend and said, "Let's mosey." Then proceeded to walk extremely fast in the general direction of Costa Del Sol.

The next three days he continued to run through the countryside, and then headed for the road. He had kept near-ish to it when there was one, but not too close. Farther away and the more aggressive monsters he couldn't handle yet would be a danger, and any closer and he wouldn't run into much at all. He hadn't gone looking for a fight, but if a creature crossed his path and decided to attack, he used the opportunity to practice. He'd never used a staff at all, let alone one as...unique as Little Friend.

Another day of running on the road, and Cloud heard a vehicle in the distance. That made sense. He had passed a turn a little ways back that he thought led to North Corel. He released __haste__, and started to walk at what he judged a usual speed for someone to travel. When the truck was close to passing him, Cloud turned a bit and waved, and it stopped.

The driver stared at him for a minute longer than Cloud really thought was necessary, before saying, "What are you doin' out here kid?"

"Going to Costa Del Sol."

"Your parents know you're out here? How'd you get out here anyway?" The driver asked, raising both eyebrows.

Those were ridiculous questions Cloud didn't think were worth the bother to answer. He had been in the wilderness with no one to talk to from Nibelheim until Gongaga, was only there for a day, and from then until now, only occasionally said something to Little Friend. He was out of practice talking, and fully intended to get back into the habit __after__ he'd rested in Costa Del Sol. He was too tired for all that right now.

"Can you give me a ride?" Cloud replied instead. He could probably run as fast now as the man would drive, but he had mastered both his materia, ate the last of his rations yesterday, and sitting down would be really, really nice.

"Did someone kidnap or mug you or something?" The man had gotten out of the truck now and had come just out of arm's reach. "Are you hurt?"

The man's face had wrinkled up into a worried look similar to the one Tifa had gotten when they ran out of Potions and Ethers and everyone was too burned out to cast another __cure__. What was the guy going on about? It was late Summer now, and this was the warm part of the country, so when Cloud found a creek, he washed up. He had hacked his hair off short in an approximation of how he used to wear it, so it stuck up, but it wasn't dirty. He had kept his clothes as clean as he could manage, so they were stained, but not too bad, and only had a couple rips from after he'd run out of thread. No visible bruises, so the man would only see a few scratches that weren't even worth mentioning. __Esuna__ kept them from getting infected, and they didn't impede fighting or running, so what was the big deal?

"Hey, kid, are you okay?" The man asked, and starting reaching a hand out to him.

Cloud backed off quickly, and started walking down the road again. He'd wait for the next one. This guy was acting strange, and Cloud didn't want to get into an altercation.

"__Wait__, kid!" The man actually sounded a bit desperate, so against his better judgment, Cloud turned and looked back at him.

"We're a few hours from Costa Del Sol, and you wanted a ride, right?" He said and backed up towards the open driver's side door. "Hop in."

Cloud paused. It could be an hour or six until another vehicle came by. "Don't touch me." He said, giving the man a warning look.

The man raised his hands, palms up, "I won't, kid, honest."

After they'd gotten settled, and driven for a few minutes, the man said tentatively, "So, your folks...they're in Costa Del Sol? What are their names?"

Cloud started to regret getting in after all, he was already starting to feel queasy, and seriously, did he seem like he needed parental supervision? "I'm older than I look." He bit out. That growth spurt couldn't come soon enough.

The driver scoffed, "So you're what, eleven?"

"Sixteen." Cloud growled. Actually, he was fourteen, but figured he'd start practicing now, so he could lie believably when he applied to join SOLDIER. How was it he could run so fast the world was a blur and be fine, but a slowly moving car made him ill?

The man took his eyes off the road long enough to look incredulously at Cloud, before turning back, and trying a few more intrusive and pointless questions.

Cloud ignored them, closed his eyes, and quickly opened them again. That wasn't going to help, and he suspected he was starting to turn faintly green. It was probably too late to suggest the man let him out, and Cloud would go on foot the rest of the way after all. This guy probably wouldn't like that idea. Truckers were so weird.

ooOOOoo

Costa Del Sol was lovely. At least, the inn Cloud had chosen was. He hadn't actually gone outside it since his arrival a few days ago. Or was it a week? After they'd driven in to town, Cloud had thanked the trucker, assured the man that __yes__, he had money and __no__, he didn't need help looking for anyone, and then hastily slipped away when the trucker was distracted for a moment. If that was an indicator of what public transport would be like, Cloud just might have to run from Junon to Midgar after all.

Cloud had then wandered in the general direction of an inn he remembered as less tourist-y, and more weary-traveler friendly. It had comfortable beds, bathing facilities, and plenty of delicious, hearty meals. The first two were good, but it was really the latter that he focused on. He had been far too hungry ever since he left Nibelheim.

The Spring nights and parts of the days had been been uncomfortably cold near Nibelhiem, and by the time he had made it to the Gongagan jungle it was the height of Summer, and the heat was stifling. He had lived on what fish he had managed to snatch out of streams, and whatever plants he recognized as edible. There were berries sometimes, and he never wanted to think about the grub-like things he had eaten __ever__ again. Water for drinking had been tricky, since he hadn't had a Heal materia to cast __poisona__ yet, and it was far too easy to get sick drinking what looked like clean water, but you found out later, wasn't.

Gongaga to Costa Del Sol hadn't been as difficult, because he had materia, and Little Friend, and some supplies, but it had been far from easy. So he now felt perfectly justified in sleeping as much as he wanted, eating as much as he wanted, and then repeating. Sometimes he'd eat twice, then sleep, just to add in some variety. No monsters, no insects, and steady meals. Cloud sighed; traveling just wasn't all that great unless you had a motorcycle or chocobo. Never got sick on one of those, either, unlike every other vehicle in existence.

He slowly enjoyed a particularly tasty meal that included steak with a reddish sauce, crunchy bread with a decadent amount of butter and two different vegetables. Then reserved a generally sold-out-early order of some rare fish dish, because it sounded good, and Aerith and Tifa insisted that shopping made you hungry.

It really was time to get himself together. When Cloud had caught a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror, he acknowledged that his appearance was a trifle...disreputable. He definitely needed new clothes. No growth spurt yet, and considering how little he had eaten the past few months, he wouldn't be surprised if it was delayed. Maybe eating a lot now would trigger it to start. He didn't mind trying that so far. At any rate, no ready-made armor would fit him at present, so he'd have to settle for exceptionally sturdy clothing.

Finding combat boots in his size was embarrassing. Not the trying on shoes part, but the saleslady kept cooing at him. So, he explained in gruesome detail just what you could do with a steel-toed boot, and then she had turned kind of green and left him alone.

The materia shop was full of tough decisions. Cloud needed to budget carefully. Should his first attempt fail, living on the run while planning a second would be expensive. You were always darting from here to there ahead of Shinra, often leaving behind your stuff, so a complete resupply was a frequent occurrence. Eventually he settled on a couple Restore and a Revive. He could heal any serious wounds without relying on Potions then, and Cloud refused to be around people without having an ability to use __life__ on them, in case of mortal injury. Stabbings, bullets, monsters, they happened all the time when you were in this business. A Revive wasn't even that spendy when you realized you could use it indefinitely; Phoenix Downs were expensive and hard to hold onto in emergency situations when your hands were shaking. Cloud finished off with a Lightning he convinced the clerk to bring the price down on in a kind of buy two, get one almost-free deal.

And finally, bracers that would let him use his materia effectively. When the shop owner started to make disapproving glances at Cloud lingering so long at the equipment, handling and inspecting each piece minutely, Cloud took a sizable chunk of gil from his pocket, and pushed it toward the man. "I'm looking for something about this size," Cloud pushed a wristcuff forward, "That can hold as many materia as possible. Sturdy, not this flimsy stuff." He finished, motioning at a gaudy armlet that he thought was more like something Scarlet might be seen wearing at a gala event.

There was haggling, and denial, and a few not-quite-empty threats to go elsewhere before Cloud was the owner of two bands; one that that would hold three materia, one with two linked slots. They were made of some unidentifiable material that Cloud's best attempt to smash didn't even make a dent in. They were also incredibly ugly, like something stronger than him __had__ smashed them before, didn't destroy their functionality, but kind of...smeared them around. No matter though. Cloud wasn't entering any beauty contests __this__ time around. He slipped them over his hands and thankfully, they came to a firm stop around his upper arms. Cloud had never tried casting magic from his legs before, and he didn't want to start trying now. He slotted four of his materia, rolled his sleeves back down, and cast a weak __cure__. Pretty spiffy. Just one more place to go.

Cloud took the Heal materia his mastered stone had spawned, the extra Restore he bought, and packed them and some gil into a box he labeled clearly "Rocket Town - Nibelheim" and underneath that, "Strife". Mail sent to Nibelheim seldom made it all the way to its destination. There was a company in Rocket Town that delivered supplies to Nibelheim in the early Autumn, though. There was a good chance the parcel would get there just before the Winter supply delivery, so it was worth a shot. He couldn't remember how his mom had managed firewood and food, or illness. Potions were expensive, and chopping wood was hard work. She hadn't looked like she was able to do it herself, although he knew from his own appearance that you couldn't always count on that as an indicator. So that would set her up for the snowed in months at least, and come Spring he'd find a way to send more. Cloud had debated which Heal to send, the mastered or newly formed one, but settled on the new. With __resist__ active, he could touch Little Friend for a few, brief moments without transforming. That could be the difference between success or failure with the touch-me as his main weapon.

With all that accomplished, Cloud turned back to the inn. Enough time had passed, he would have wanted to eat again by now anyway, so he still wasn't sure if shopping actually made you hungry.

ooOOOoo

The day he took the ferry to Junon, Cloud ate nothing. He even waited until the last available one. This resulted in a lack of vomiting from seasickness, but Cloud still spent several hours thinking morosely about that Seal materia he left behind, and its __sleep__ ability. He'd never cast it on himself before, but this would have made him willing to try. Let that be a lesson to him on lack of foresight. Who needed money for food and lodging when you could __sleep__ through transit? He still had to get from Junon to Midgar, too. __Urk.__

The ferry arrived in Junon late enough, he was looking for an inn long after dark. He kept a weather eye out, but no muggers, so Little Friend didn't get to thwack anyone. He'd try it out in the Midgar slums, then. He needed to get the hang of using it on a person, instead of a monster.

Early the next morning, he made a quick stop to pick up the last materia he was going to allow himself for now. He fully understood Yuffie's obsession with collecting the faintly glowing stones, which was why he got so ticked off when she stole them. Magic was __amazing__. The only thing more awesome was a really cool sword, and if he let himself get distracted, Cloud would just wander the world collecting materia until he hit his growth spurt. Then swords, and then Sephiroth would die in a manner Cloud knew from experience worked with a one hundred percent success rate.

He had considered waiting, but for the problem: Cloud didn't know how much time was left. His goal was to stop the madman before he burned Nibelheim, and summoned __Meteor__, and Cloud didn't know when that was. He'd looked at newspapers, and all they said was "negotiations with Wutai are breaking down". Did that mean the war hadn't begun yet, or it had ended, and a peace treaty was being discussed? For all he knew, a truce had happened __during__ the war, and they could be in the middle of it. Cloud hadn't fought in Wutai, but Zack had. Was it over before Cloud even came to Midgar last time, or was he simply not deployed? Looking at the date hadn't helped, either. Life before Hojo came cackling out of the shadows was fragmented, and Cloud's memory of dates and times from then was mostly gone. Some things had come back; people's faces, some names, and a few situations, but to be honest, Cloud wasn't absolutely certain of his own age. Around the ticket booth for the bus to Midgar while fielding __another__ question directed to him about him being "alone", Cloud realized he could have asked his mom how old he was. Ah well, not knowing for sure would make lying about it easier, right?

The bus swayed, rocked back and forth, and went around curves on the bumpy road. It stopped all too briefly to refuel, and then lurched back into motion. The person sitting closest to him took out a sandwich with pungent cheese and sausage on it. The bus continued to sway, and rock back and forth around curves in the road.

The world wouldn't ever know what he suffered for its sake. This was what a futile existence must feel like.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter ****3**

Shinra Tower was a rat's maze. Cloud had been through its doors the moment they opened, and it was well past lunch time now. He was sure of that, because after the front desk, the secretary on the eleventh floor, the office on the twenty-third floor, and then the sleeping archivist in the records room, the employees took a lunch break. Cloud would have just snuck through the building, but he didn't know where to go. Shouldn't it be easier to ask to join SOLDIER? Not to get in, of course, but surely they had people asking after it all the time, what with the publicity. World events weren't covered well in the "newspapers" he had seen, but there was plenty of advertisements. Buy this, buy that, didn't Sephiroth look dashing and wasn't the new SOLDIER program amazing? It must be quite new if they hadn't come up with an efficient way to direct applicants.

Eventually, he was sent to an office on the twenty-seventh floor by a secretary who tried to pinch Cloud's cheek. He easily dodged this, unlike the earlier narrow miss of having his hair ruffled. Only Zack was allowed to do that, __not__ complete strangers. Not even other friends, Aerith's attempts notwithstanding.

Floor twenty-seven, office nine. It was a fairly large room, completely empty save for a few filing cabinets in a corner and a desk by the window. Cloud was relieved to see there was also someone here, as that hadn't been the case in every office. He walked up to the desk and asked, "Is this where you apply for the SOLDIER program?"

The man looked up, a faint shine to his eyes, gave Cloud a quick up and down glance, and replied, "It sure is, kid. Whatcha here for?"

"I'm here to join SOLDIER."

The man's mouth twitched. "Sorry, we, uh, only take people with basic training already under their belt."

Cloud nodded seriously. "I'm pretty good with all the basics, already." He stood a bit straighter, and patted Little Friend briefly on the head. He'd walked into the office with a staff, materia, and his knives weren't __all__ hidden and the guy didn't think Cloud could fight?

"Yeah, sure, umm...there's also a minimum age requirement."

Cloud had practiced speaking in a lower register, but it just made him sound sick. His voice had never been what you called deep in the first place, so he had settled for serious. Having a bright, happy tone along with his lack of height would make him seem like a child. Steady, grave, and standing very straight with excellent posture; it wasn't enough, but it would have to do.

"I'm sixteen."

The man brushed his hand over his mouth and coughed. Then he started to chuckle, which quickly turned into all out laughter.

Cloud waited this out in stoic silence.

When the man finally got himself under control, he grinned at Cloud, "Tell you what kid, I'll put your name on a list, and you can come back in a few years, eh?"

That would be far too late. He'd try a different tack. "I need to see Sephiroth."

"Oh, is that it? I admire your, er, dedication, but y'know, if you wanted an autograph you should've gone to Public Relations. They're on floor-"

This was going nowhere. If Cloud wandered around the building, what were the chances security would throw him out before he found Sephiroth? If there were people desperate for autographs, they probably had someone keeping an eye on stalkers, but how else was he going to get close enough? Time to mostly tell the truth.

"I came to join SOLDIER so I could fight Sephiroth. If you won't let me join, at least tell him I'm here, and would like to..." Cloud trailed off, as the man started laughing again. Cloud glanced at Little Friend. No, not yet. Something else...

"If I beat you in a spar, will you send him a message?" Cloud asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Kid, I'm SOLDIER 3rd class." He wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm sure you're proud of your...getup and all, but you can't beat me."

"Wanna bet? I win, and you contact Sephiroth."

"I don't fight __children__, and even if I did, you got nothing to forfeit for when you lose." The SOLDIER smirked.

Cloud felt the long day of being patronized starting to catch up to him. "You refusing both of my requests several times now is disappointing. If I __was__ a 'kid' I would have no qualms about staying here and annoying you for the rest of the day, and coming back every day to do the same __ad nauseum__."

The man leaned back in his chair, and pointed a pen at Cloud, "I'd just have security throw you out."

"I'd find a way back in." Cloud smiled; it wasn't a very nice one.

"But you said you weren't a kid."

"So I'm __not__ going to come back in every day to make you miserable. That means I'm not a child, and you can fight me."

The SOLDIER hummed and replied, "You still don't have a forfeit, though."

"I don't need one, because I won't lose."

The man chuckled. "Fine, kid. We'll spar, and when you lose, maybe it'll take you down a peg or two."

The SOLDIER walked to the middle of the room. Cloud leaned Little Friend carefully up against the desk, and moved to a sword's length from the man.

"You're not going to hit me with your stick?"

"No. Little Friend is for Sephiroth." Cloud replied.

"You brought him a frog as a present?"

"...Something like that." He waited a few moments, but the SOLDIER didn't seem to get the hint. Cloud raised an eyebrow and said, "We're not bowing first; you can attack anytime."

The SOLDIER sighed, shook his head, and threw a halfhearted swing at Cloud.

Rookie mistake; never underestimate your opponent. Technically, Cloud had done so as well. With __haste__ and his best Wutaien "ninja" moves, it still took an entire minute to take the SOLDIER down. With a knife in each hand pressing carefully against arteries, Cloud asked pleasantly, "Yield?"

"Yeah, you win."

The man sounded almost shaky. Cloud backed away and tucked his knives into their scabbards. He won, so time for the man to pay up. "So, if you'll send that message to-"

"Where did you learn that stuff, kid?" The SOLDIER interrupted.

The man was looking at Cloud with...awe? Huh. He was still a "kid", though. Cloud thought a moment, and figured it was safe to answer. "A friend taught me the martial arts."

"But the speed! You...I have mako enhancements, how did you...that was fast!" The SOLDIER practically spluttered.

"Magic."

"__Seriously__, kid, how..."

Cloud rolled his eyes. If the SOLDIER wasn't going to listen when Cloud gave an honest reply, he was done with this conversation. "I won the spar, so I'd appreciate it if you'd contact Sephiroth now."

"Can you repeat whatever made you so fast?" The man asked eagerly.

Cloud hesitated, not sure why the man was asking. "Yes."

The SOLDIER walked quickly over to the computer on his desk, typed and clicked, and said, "I'll do you one better, kid; he's in the VR room on floor sixty-four, you can meet him like you wanted to, after all."

Cloud nodded in satisfaction, retrieved Little Friend, and followed the man out the door.

ooOOOoo

"-seriously, sir, I've never seen hand-to-hand like that before!"

"Yes, so you've said; I don't see how-"

Cloud continued to breathe evenly. They had arrived at the VR room, whose purpose Cloud probably knew, if he thought about it. That...would be later. Staying in the here and now was far more important. Focus on his current surroundings. Breathe very evenly.

"-could hardly keep up, I don't know how-"

"I'm sure your little spar was just fascinating, but I don't see what it has to do with-"

The SOLDIER whose name Cloud never asked was talking very excitedly with another SOLDIER who seemed vaguely familiar, and a man who wasn't enhanced, but appeared to have seniority since he was also a "sir". SOLDIER wasn't like the infantry where you __sirred__and__ma'amed__ everybody. Focus. Breathe. Near the three-way conversation (argument?), leaning against the wall listening but not participating, was Sephiroth. __Piercing pain through his sternum and the acrid smell of burning__. The air in this room was quite clear and fresh. Cloud knew this because he kept breathing. it. in. even. intervals.

"-so I agreed, and he won, and so here we are."

"You really don't have the authority to guarantee-"

Sephiroth straightened up from the wall and interrupted coolly, "Or I could fight him like he wants, and the time saved from not having this argument will make it a moot point." He turned towards Cloud and said bemusedly, "Luxiere said you brought me a frog?"

__Shall I give you despair?__ Cloud shook his head and looked for something specific to focus on, because he had fought this man way too many...where was the trench coat? That was different. Sephiroth was wearing a mostly standard uniform. Combat trousers, ribbed reinforced shirt, no pauldrons, and no trench coat. His sleeves were rolled up. That was...perfect.

Everyone was staring at Cloud now. He'd probably been asked a question. He didn't remember what it was, but they all should just get to the point anyway. "I only want to fight Sephiroth, so everyone else should probably leave for safety's sake." Cloud was quite proud of that excuse. No one nearby, meant no interference.

Desk SOLDIER obligingly backed into the hallway, but the other two men just walked to the edge of the room. Cloud glowered at them, but they were unaffected. Surprisingly, Sephiroth waved them away, and they went to just outside the door to the hall. That was...probably as good as it was going to get. Cloud turned to face Sephiroth. The man towered over Cloud in a way he usually only did when the wing sprouted and the flying started. Breathe. Focus on the arms. Bare skin, perfect reachable target.

"I'm trying to save the world," Cloud muttered under his breath to bolster himself. He'd never done this without backup, maybe that's why this seemed more unnerving than it had been before.

"What-" Sephiroth started, but the rest of the question was lost in the chaos that ensued.

Cloud didn't need to concentrate to cast __haste__ anymore. He just __moved__. Feint to the right, dart under Sephiroth's left arm, turn, and swing Little Friend's staff at Sephiroth's side. The man twisted slightly towards Cloud, and blocked the staff __with his bare arm__. A minor blast of magical pressure pushed Cloud back a few steps, and then there was a touch-me where once stood Sephiroth. Voices started loudly exclaiming something, but Cloud tuned them out. He flipped his staff around so the blunt end without Little Friend on it was pointed towards the monster, and hit touch-me Sephiroth on the head as hard as he could. This appeared to injure Sephiroth, but not mortally. As Cloud threw his weight into another blow, he hit a shimmering barrier. The voices were practically shouting now, and he felt arms snake around his middle and pull him sharply out of reach of Sephiroth. Cloud rammed a vicious elbow jab backwards, and jerked away. He pulled out two handfuls of sharp, shard-like knives he had prepared for a possible long-distance attack, and threw them at his target. The blades positively sang as they flew towards Sephiroth. Some kept traveling past the touch-me's head, the majority that would have hit him were blocked by a metal blade, and some kind of pressure wave flattened the rest to the floor. Cloud heard more shouting, then felt extremely strong magic wrap around him and pull him into darkness.

ooOOOoo

Cloud woke groggily, feeling like someone had cast __sleep__ on him. That's what this plan had been lacking; a Barrier materia. He sat up slowly, and took in his surroundings. It was a cell, he supposed, but it was the cushiest one he'd ever been kept in. The cot he had been lying down on was comfortable. Softer than the ground anyway, and he had a blanket thrown over him. The walls were painted, not just gray metal, and there was carpet on the floor. There was a small table or maybe nightstand with some energy bars and a bottle of water on it. What he assumed was the exit was even a normal door, no force-field. There was a mirror next to it, of course; big enough you'd be able to see the whole room from the other side.

Cloud stood up carefully and took stock of his condition. That had been a __powerful__ spell. They'd taken Little Friend, which he had expected. He hadn't realized it would bother him so much. If the Science Department got their hands on his touch-me and decided to experiment, there would be consequences.

His armbands were also gone, and they'd gotten every single knife; even that dull pocket knife he'd still been carrying. They hadn't removed his boots, though. He stretched his toes out, and felt the edges of two materia. He'd mastered his Time awhile ago, and __haste__was too handy to be without in this sort of situation. As for the other, well...he could see two possible ways to escape without it, but he'd bet the door's lock was electronic. A little zap with a Lightning materia would short that out nicely.

This wasn't the sort of place you put someone you were going to torture. Hojo's "experiments" aside, he didn't even know if Shinra did that to people. Someone was likely monitoring this room with a camera, even if they didn't have anyone behind the mirror. So the boots would stay on for now, no need to get his back-ups confiscated as well.

Cloud sat down on the cot, wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, and leaned against the wall. Without __poisona__, no eating the food or water. Being in sealed packages meant nothing; Shinra made those on its mid-level floors. What they might put in the food he wasn't sure, but better safe than sorry.

If they were just waiting until __sleep__ wore off to question him, they should show up soon. Why no one had woken him up with __esuna__, he wasn't sure. This wasn't a long-term holding cell; there was no toilet. Maybe they were waiting for him to get anxious and eager to talk. Cloud had to resist a laugh from that thought. He had spoken more today, to more people, than he had in total since the day he found himself on the Nibel slopes. The brief amusement faded quickly. His plan failed. He had known it might, but to have come __so close__ to it working, was harder than if nothing had gone right. He shook himself away from that line of thinking. "If onlys" would get him nowhere. There was still the plan: kill Sephiroth. It was just his first attempt that failed. He'd try again, and wouldn't repeat the mistakes he'd made with this one.

First of all, there absolutely couldn't be anyone but Sephiroth around. That was the biggest mistake, and Cloud was embarrassed about that one. He got a little...single-minded around that madman, and only now realized, that if he'd been thinking clearer, he would have remembered that the people watching them wouldn't be on Cloud's side. There was often innocent bystanders in the vicinity when they fought, who were screaming and running away and __not helping__ Sephiroth. Cloud had managed to stay in the present by not paying any attention at all to his surroundings.

The shouting hadn't been innocent victims, or voices in his head. It had been the people watching he and Sephiroth fight. The shimmer that kept his second staff strike from landing must have been __barrier__. That was tied into the first mistake. You can't use materia in touch-me form, so it was a bystander who cast it. If Cloud had Barrier he wouldn't have been knocked out. Not getting one of those was very short-sighted. They were pretty hard to come by, though. Where could you find one, he wondered...

The door opened, and two people walked in. The vaguely familiar SOLDIER from before, and Tseng. Cloud reminded himself not to smile. He hadn't been on the best terms with the Turks before, but by now a face Cloud had a name for was a pleasant sight. The SOLDIER stayed near the wall opposite the mirror, and Tseng walked forward til he was a few steps from the cot and stopped.

Best to introduce himself. Cloud didn't want to pretend he didn't know Tseng, and he did wonder who the SOLDIER was. "I'm Cloud Strife. Who are you?" He asked politely.

There was a moment of silence; then, "I'm Tseng of the Turks." This was said a little flatly.

Cloud looked expectantly at the SOLDIER, but the man just stared at him curiously. Cloud shifted his gaze back to Tseng, and raised an eyebrow.

"That is Genesis Rhapsodos, SOLDIER. Are you going to attack him?"

"No." If Cloud's reply sounded like a mix between surprise and confusion, it was quite sincere. Why would he attack random SOLDIERs? The strange hint of familiarity stayed, but no memories were forthcoming. That was odd. Cloud hadn't had time to think about that yet, but with so little to go on, he bet it wasn't a Zack memory surfacing at all. If Cloud had met this man, it was likely before Hojo, and so he might not figure it out. Good that Cloud learned his name, then.

"What kind of hand-to hand did you use to fight Luxiere?" asked Tseng.

"Who's Luxiere?"

"The SOLDIER you made a bet with in office nine, floor twenty-seven."

Oh. Odd question for Tseng to lead with. Maybe this was a __chronological__ interrogation. Cloud couldn't think of a good reason not to answer. "The kid I learned from, called them 'awesome secret ninja moves'."

"Kid? You learned this from a child?" Tseng asked with slightly more inflection.

Well, yeah; they always called Yuffie a kid. Because she was only, what, sixteen? Why everyone was calling Cloud a kid...oh, __he__ was sixteen now. Wait, he'd been telling people he was sixteen, but wasn't he fourteen? He'd already been in the infantry by sixteen before, so he was younger now. He'd decided to lie about his age. Cloud sighed. This was why he usually went for blunt honesty. His memory was mixed up enough without lying added to the mix. Right, he'd make an effort to tell the truth as much as possible. There was no Tifa to help him keep his head on straight. He probably shouldn't let himself get irritated about being called a "kid" anymore, either. He was younger than Yuffie had been, and he didn't like hypocrites. He should answer Tseng's question now. Cloud took a moment to remember what it was.

"Yeah, she was a kid I met in the woods. We traded materia for martial arts lessons."

"Do you know where she learned them?" Tseng asked, not seemingly bothered by how long it took Cloud to reply.

That was something he had always appreciated about the man. Vincent was like that too, maybe it was a Turk thing. Cloud thought of Reno, and amended; an older Turk thing. He should probably try to stay focused, Tseng was being quite polite, and Cloud was being questioned for something rather serious. He should pay better attention.

"I think it was just standard Wutaien hand-to-hand."

"You __think__ it was from Wutai?" Tseng asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was definitely Wutaien, I'm not sure if it was standard. She said her teacher was a boring traditionalist, so maybe?" Cloud trailed off at the end. How much had Yuffie made up, and how much was something she learned from her instructors? She had a really neat move he had never replicated, which she usually ruined by screaming, "White Rose of Wutai!" just before she landed. Things usually dodged when they heard screaming above their head. Then again, she was the princess, so was her fighting style standard or specialized? Cloud had no idea, but Tseng seemed to be moving on.

"Is the magical beast from Wutai also?"

That stung. "It isn't a __beast__; Little Friend has gotten quite tame. You haven't hurt it have you?" Cloud asked, glaring suspiciously at Tseng and the still silent Genesis.

"It's called a "little friend"?" Tseng asked, without answering Cloud's question.

Now that was rude, Cloud had answered all Tseng's questions; truthfully, even. Cloud crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, "Little Friend is its __name__, and you didn't say if it was all right."

Tseng stared at Cloud. Cloud stared back.

Genesis interrupted their impromptu contest after a minute. "The creature you say is called 'Little Friend' should be fine. It was scanned with a __sense__ spell, and was given water, but we're not sure what it eats."

Tseng turned and gave the SOLDIER a __look__, and Cloud thought Genesis was either a very good liar, or was actually being honest.

"They eat bugs and grubs like frogs do. The Science Department isn't dissecting it or anything, are they?"

"No one is dissecting 'Little Friend'," Genesis said, not unkindly. "You said __like__ a frog. What is it, exactly?"

"It's called a touch-me."

Tseng didn't seem entirely pleased with the change of interrogators, but didn't stop the SOLDIER from continuing.

"Where did you find it?" Genesis asked.

"They only live in the Gongagan jungle. Which is kind of odd, because Little Friend has seemed fine whatever the temperature has been..." Cloud trailed off. Ah well, Nibel wolves only lived near Nibelheim, and he doubted anything elsewhere could kill them. Touch-mes must prefer the swamp. No accounting for taste.

"Not Wutai?" Tseng interjected.

"Umm, no, just Gongaga." Replied Cloud, bemused. Why the obsession with Wutai?

"We are less familiar with that continent than the Western one, and while Shinra has a reactor in Gongaga, we've never heard of a touch-me." Genesis explained smoothly.

"And Shinra pays so much attention to the local environment when they build a reactor." Cloud replied sarcastically. He received an odd look from Tseng for that reply, but Genesis only tilted his head and smirked.

There was a brief silence, and Cloud wondered at the lack of hostility. He had been expecting more accusations, or...he didn't know what, but there was a surprising lack of death threats or promise of execution.

"Is Septhiroth very badly injured?" He asked, wanting to finish before his voice gave out entirely.

"No." Tseng replied shortly.

"Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall his return." Added Genesis.

__Say what?__ Cloud looked at Genesis in complete befuddlement. He realized his mouth was hanging open, and snapped it shut. That was...almost as dramatic as Vincent, though maybe not as effortless. Very distracting, too, which may have been the point.

They seemed more concerned with how Cloud did everything, than what he had done. They weren't giving off any "I'm going walk away while a minion kills you" vibes. Maybe...they didn't realize he'd been trying to __kill__ Sephiroth. Cloud thought it was obvious, but if they didn't, then he might not need to go on the run yet. He hadn't been looking forward to that. He was still tired from the Nibelheim to Gongaga to Costa Del Sol trip. And kind of skinny. If he didn't fatten up a little, his growth spurt would be delayed even more.

Lying was entirely out of the question from now on. Being here was going to be confusing if the moments before the fight were any indication, and he wasn't going to be able to keep track of a completely false set of circumstances. Vincent had explained once to him, that was how the Turks kept their stories straight; they told the truth. They simply misdirected people in such a way, they thought they knew something that had never actually been stated. Cloud could do that, a little. It should be easier than lying about his age. No one believed him, anyway.

"So, does that mean I can still join SOLDIER?" Cloud asked.

Genesis raised his eyebrows, and Tseng blinked.

"You want to join SOLDIER?" Genesis asked, still raising one brow.

"Yeah, I made a bet with desk SOLDIER, er, Luxiere, and won, so I met Sephiroth, and I would have won that fight if someone hadn't cast __barrier__." He paused and eyed Genesis suspiciously. Cloud wondered if it was him. "So, if I can fight a SOLDIER and win, the age requirement could be waived, right?" Cloud tried to interject some innocent hopefulness into the question. Hope was easy, if he was in SOLDIER, he would be perfectly positioned to keep an eye on Sephiroth in preparation for the next attempt. It was the innocent tone he had difficulty with. Maybe he'd practice it, later. Marlene had been really good at it.

Tseng and Genesis exchanged a speaking glance.

"There is a meeting, soon." Tseng said, back to being nearly toneless. "Your request is certainly something we can discuss."

Genesis followed with, "In the meantime, we'd appreciate you staying here. If you need to use the facilities, knock on the door, and you'll be escorted."

"May I have my materia back?"

"No." Tseng replied quickly.

"At least Heal, so I can eat the food and water?" Cloud requested rather blandly. If he couldn't manage innocent, he wasn't even going to try for wheedling.

"Why would you need Heal to eat?" Tseng asked, slightly incredulous.

"__Poisona__." Cloud replied in that tone people used when the question was pointless, because the answer was self-evident.

The two exchanged another glance, and hesitated. After a moment to consider, Genesis replied, "Your escort will hand you a Heal long enough to check your food, and then you'll give it back. Until the next meal."

Cloud nodded, even though it wasn't a question. That was more flexible than he thought they'd be. "See you later." Cloud said pleasantly. They'd been surprisingly decent about this whole situation.

Tseng raised an eyebrow. "Indeed." Then turned to the door.

Genesis gave Cloud one last contemplative look and followed.

Cloud generally tried to avoid admiring anything the Turks did, on principle, but Tseng was too good. He hadn't answered the question about SOLDIER, he __misdirected__.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was a well-known fact in certain departments in Shinra, that if you wanted to get something productive done, you went to Rufus. Not the President himself, but his son. The managers of Weapon Development, Space, and Public Safety didn't realize this, because they had never approached Rufus Shinra with something productive.

You arrived with your idea laid out concisely, a cost-effective budget planned, and several good arguments he could assign to certain individuals. The days leading up to Rufus' business meeting with his father would consist of various influential people dropping comments in the President's ear. Then at the meeting, Rufus would explain his newest plan; how productive it would be, and the long-term benefits that existed besides the gil, of which there would great returns.

If you had only a rough idea, Rufus would at least listen, if he was in the mood, and he found you interesting. If you lacked ways to get people on board, he would sometimes help you brain-storm. If you didn't have a cost-effective budget plan, he had you dismissed from his office. Any attempts to contact him would end in failure for weeks, sometimes months. If you tried to approach him in person, a Turk would suddenly appear and escort you away. No one kept trying after that. Gossip had it, some underling (a Dr. W. Cabe) that Hojo sent to bother Rufus, disappeared entirely after trying once more, but that was only a rumor. No one could even prove a "W. Cabe" had ever worked at Shinra.

After briefly conferring with others in their departments, Lazard the Director of SOLDIER and Veld the Director of the Turks, accompanied by Genesis and Tseng, came to discuss an extremely concerning issue with Rufus Shinra.

"It is morning, gentlemen. What brings you must be important, or you would have called beforehand." Rufus Shinra said pointedly, only looking up from his papers long enough to identify who had walked in. He was sitting at what would be better classified a table than a standard desk. It was long, narrow, and covered entirely with papers; maps, letters, contracts, and many, many graphs.

Lazard spoke first, "We need to postpone the war with Wutai."

"Tell me something I don't already know." Rufus replied quietly, through gritted teeth.

"There is a possibility we'll be slaughtered, and were hoping you could find a way to convince the President of this." Genesis said bluntly.

Rufus paused his work to pinch the bridge of his nose, but didn't look up. "Veld?"

"The Turks and SOLDIER are in agreement about Wutai, sir." Veld responded firmly.

Tseng added, "We have clips of yesterday's security footage, and some disturbing conclusions, sir."

Rufus waved his hand toward a screen attached to the wall near his desk. Three clips were played; a little blond waif applying for SOLDIER and wiping the floor with a SOLDIER 3rd, turning Sephiroth into a frog and nearly killing it/him, and " I'm Cloud Strife" being questioned.

"Sephiroth's condition?" Rufus inquired of Lazard.

"He turned back into himself about thirty minutes after the initial transformation. After treatment, he's now officially uninjured."

"And unofficially?"

"His migraine was so intense, that our discussion about the situation was quiet enough Lazard could hardly hear us, and took place in complete darkness." Genesis filled in.

Rufus leaned back in his chair, "The pertinent facts and conclusions?"

"Our verifiable information about Wutai is the same as ever; they fight with materia and simple weapons, and folk tales claim their warriors of old used trained monsters. Up until now, the Science and Weapon departments have been insistent that one SOLDIER could take on at least a dozen people on their own, but..." Veld trailed off at the end, and Lazard picked up where the Turk left off.

"That's just statistics and data on paper. A SOLDIER being several times faster than the unenhanced may guarantee them winning a footrace, but as you saw, without superior training, they can still lose a fight.

"Cloud Strife said he learned from a 'kid'. So either someone his age or younger, you'd think. It didn't even sound like she payed much attention to her instructor, and we'd be fighting fully trained adults. Wutai only uses simple, hand-made weapons? Maybe they don't need something more developed if their hand-to-hand is that good."

After a moment for everyone to absorb that thought, Genesis said, "I examined his materia. They were mostly healing-oriented: Restore, Heal, Revive. The only others were Sense, and Time. I've never owned a Time, because I tested one out once; I thought it was redundant after my mako treatments. I've never seen someone stretch the abilities of __haste__ that far. It certainly took Luxiere by surprise."

"That's because the rest of the world isn't as obsessed by materia as you, Genesis," Lazard said dryly, "No one else in SOLDIER __or__ the Turks had heard of a Time. Materia use is difficult for the rest of us mere mortals, and most people don't bother with the obscure."

"Which means Shinra isn't fully aware of all the types that may be out there, and that is something Wutai is said to specialize in." Tseng added quietly.

"Lazard and I observed from the other side of the mirror, Rhapsodos kept a __sense__ going, and we're all certain Strife was telling the truth as he believed or knew it. That's part of the problem, we simply don't have enough information. Maybe the girl he learned it from wasn't from Wutai, but we've never seen the like before." Veld's frustration was becoming visible; he took a deep breath, then continued.

"We asked Tuesti's people if any of them had heard of or seen a 'Touch-Me' when they were building the reactor in Gongaga. They said that the locals warned them off going to the swamps, saying they'd be 'transformed'. The workers wrote this off as a superstition, but didn't go there anyway; __it was a swamp__."

"The material point being, if SOLDIERs can be taken down by a partially trained child, using only a Time and a Touch-Me-On-A-Stick, we're in serious trouble." Genesis started calmly, but his voice started to rise towards the end. "Send in SOLDIERs to lead the way, and fight the rest with Heideggar's army? Pah! If we can be taken down so easily, then his glorified road workers will be cut through like butter! Melted butter! Paper! Cheap paper that-"

"Genesis." Lazard interrupted firmly.

They all waited a moment; the SOLDIER did stop waving his hands around and ranting, so Lazard said tiredly, "He has a point about Public Safety's 'army', Rufus; it's going to be so much cannon fodder. It's taken five years to make and train thirty SOLDIERs, and even if Science quickly churns out more, without time to train them, we'd be no better off than Heideggar.

"When I joined, SOLDIER wasn't supposed to be about killing __people__." Genesis said bitterly.

"**Rhapsodos!**" Lazard barked in warning, looking worriedly at Rufus Shinra and the Turks in turn.

"Don't trouble yourself, Lazard." Rufus finally spoke. "It's the truth, though I wouldn't recommend speaking it so __freely__ outside this meeting." He said with a warning glance at Genesis.

"Now for __my__ pertinent facts and conclusions. SOLDIER was made to keep the monsters at bay around civilized areas, along with anything else too dangerous for your average citizen. Public Safety was made to maintain the roads the SOLDIERs were going to keep safe. They are not trained or prepared for full-scale warfare. My best efforts have failed to convince the upper echelons in the company of this. So unless we can turn your dire predictions into something __incredibly__ compelling, the war-mongers will be unmoved.

"So I repeat, tell me something I don't already know." Rufus said, looking expectantly at them.

"We all agree that stopping the war entirely is unlikely, sir." Tseng said. "But we think, carefully presented, we could turn this into something that would convince the President to hold off for a little while."

"The Turks would double their efforts to gather information, and __encourage__ Heideggar to prepare his people better." Veld promised.

"SOLDIER would have time to improve their skill sets. Up til now, most have used only swords, and relied on their enhancements to fill in the gaps. Also, we don't have the same type of influence the Turks do in __persuading__ people," Here Lazard gave a sideways look at Veld, "But if we happen to train against Scarlet's inventions, and she has to improve them when they fail or break, well..."

"It still won't be enough, of course, sir. But we may be able to prevent complete failure this way." Tseng concluded.

Rufus sighed, and nodded. "Indeed. We have a vague outline, I suppose; shall we get to work?"

Five men gathered around a very cluttered desk, and began to plot.

ooOOOoo

Cloud was done plotting for now. He'd come up with several possible variations of a central theme, based on being allowed to stick around Shinra. Not much point in looking too far ahead, as a plan never survived first contact with the enemy, and he'd already made first contact. It was also a good idea to prepare for possible escape attempts, but coming up with those was harder; life was so unpredictable. After all, he hadn't expected the circumstances he was in now.

"-so I said to him, if it wasn't what stole your sandwich, why are we hunting something so cute, and he said-"

This Turk was the chattiest one he had ever met. More than Elena, even; although this woman hadn't let slip any __interesting__information. Cloud hadn't exactly asked many questions; he wasn't sure he could get a word in edgewise.

"May I go back to my cell now?" Cloud interrupted wearily.

"Oh, kid, it's not a cell. Well, I guess it is, you know, if you tilt your head sideways, but it's only temporary! Besides, you haven't finished your dinner." She smiled cheerfully at him.

"I'm full." Cloud didn't think Turks were supposed to smile at detainees. He also was pretty sure he was supposed to stay in his cell at all times, and they were supposed to bring him his food. And then Leave. Him. Alone. To contemplate his misdeeds, if nothing else.

The first meal had been breakfast food, and Cloud had been informed that it was morning, and that he'd slept through evening and night of the previous day. Lunch had been delivered with similar, brief dialogue, and the same watchfulness while Cloud used __poisona__.

Dinnertime came, and a different Turk arrived. So now they were sitting in a nearly empty break room of sorts. He would have called it a cafeteria, but it was the kind you brought your own meal to. There had been various employees in it awhile ago, when they had first come in. Now it was just Cloud, the Turk, and a SOLDIER who was standing near the door.

"You eat like a bird, kid. You feel sick or something?" She peered at him.

"No, I'm just not used to eating this often." Cloud replied, pushing his plate farther away.

"Hmm. What, so three meals a day isn't something your folks do?"

Cloud shrugged. He didn't remember, and that wasn't really what she was asking. Still, she had a point. Cloud ate as often as he could fit it in, or he had opportunity. But that was a little difficult in the wilderness or when you were so motion sick you couldn't keep anything down. Costa Del Sol had been amazing. He was starting to think he'd slept longer between those heavenly meals than he originally assumed, though.

"So you haven't told us who to contact so they won't be worrying about you..." She trailed off, her face the picture of concern.

Cloud was having a hard time not admiring these Turks. If he was as young as they thought, all this would have probably worked by now; the quiet, lonely day, the sympathetic and friendly female taking him out of the cell for dinner. There was that question again; how old __was__ Cloud? Something to think about when he had some solitude. It would probably be all right to answer some of her questions, though. He'd just be careful about it.

"No one is worried about me." Cloud reassured her.

"Because they aren't the worrying kind, or there isn't someone to worry?" She asked, refilling their water glasses.

Cloud looked at his glass, then at her, and waited.

She sighed and handed him a Heal materia. "So, what are you looking for in the water, exactly?" She asked wryly.

Cloud wasn't sure. They hadn't drugged his food, and he didn't know why they would at this point. He still felt a compulsive need to check what he drank. Especially water. "Oh." Cloud said, in realization. He felt a poke in his shoulder, and he startled slightly and looked at the Turk.

"Oh, what, Cloud?"

"Well, I had to check the water I drank on the way here, so it wouldn't make me sick. I think it's become a habit." He replied contemplatively, looking down at Heal.

"Yeah? Must have traveled some back roads then." She said, taking away the materia.

Cloud sighed. This was going to be a long evening. Aside from whatever information the Turks were trying to obtain, he suspected this one was chosen because she __liked__ to talk.

ooOOOoo

Luxiere, on the other hand, was a fount of information Cloud probably wasn't supposed to be told. The SOLDIER arrived early the next morning to escort Cloud to his new quarters. They stopped to eat breakfast first on floor sixty-three, where the SOLDIER's cafeteria was. They had their own, as well as apartments on this floor. Among other things, Cloud also learned:

Barracks elsewhere in Midgar had been planned until the Science department had insisted SOLDIER stay close by. __Not surprising, Science was a bunch of creepy control-freaks.__

Lazard was __theirs__, but very busy, so if there was a problem, SOLDIERs usually went to one of the Firsts; they'd decide if it was worth bothering the Director over. Angeal Hewley was good for solving things amongst themselves; if you knew Lazard would have to get involved, you went to Genesis Rhapsodos. They only bothered Sephiroth with...on second thought, Cloud should probably stick to the first two, for now. __No kidding.__

SOLDIER was splitting up into three sections. One would stay behind here in Midgar, and train with each other, and the other two would be going out to patrol around the country. Learn about new monsters and materia, observe and practice other forms of combat, and clear out monster infestations; basically a training/earning their keep sort of deployment. Then they'd come back to rest and compare notes and experiences, and a different section would stay behind. __Finally something useful.__

"So, what happens when all three have been out, do you start all over again?" Cloud asked curiously.

"Oh, er, we're actually hoping to squeeze in all three before we get sent to Wutai. It's not a sure thing yet. Enough time, I mean, Wutai is..." Luxiere trailed off.

"How are the sections going to be chosen?" Cloud prompted.

"The Firsts are each leading one; I'm with Rhapsodos, who's staying behind first. I think Hewley is next after us." Luxiere replied.

Which made Sephiroth last, if there was enough "time", whatever that meant. Cloud needed to understand what exactly Shinra thought he would be doing, and how closely he was being watched. They were on the way to his new quarters now.

"So, if my room is here on SOLDIER's floor, does that mean I got into the program?"

Luxiere laughed; not mockingly, just in good humor. "Ah, kid. You're __way__ too young for the mako treatments. Taking out two of us was so impressive, that you get to stick around for awhile, though." He ended with a smile.

"So, I get to go out and kill monsters when you do?" Cloud inquired.

Luxiere looked flummoxed. "Um...we, er, that is..."

"What Luxiere is trying to say, is that your exact role in SOLDIER is not yet decided." Genesis Rhapsodos smoothly interjected.

"Sir! What are you doing here?" Luxiere asked, surprised.

"You're supposed to tack 'sir' onto the __end__ of the question, Luxiere." Genesis replied.

Cloud thought maybe you weren't supposed to ask questions in that tone, either, but the SOLDIER 1st hadn't seemed to take issue with that.

"Hello, Cloud Strife. Which of your names do you prefer to go by?" Genesis turned to him and asked.

Cloud ducked his head and tried not to laugh. __Which of his names.__ Well, Cloud had only gone by his own, even when he thought he was someone else, so, "Cloud."

"You may call me by either of mine; we have been introduced, but in case you have forgotten, I am Genesis Rhapsodos."

Cloud nodded, but made no other reply. After a moment Genesis waved towards the door they were all standing nearest to.

"This is your new accommodation; for the foreseeable future, you are expected to inform someone if you intend to leave the building. The SOLDIER cafeteria serves three meals a day, and floor nineteen, office seven should be able to requisition any personal effects you may need."

"What am I going to be doing, if I can't go kill monsters yet?" Cloud asked, honestly curious.

"We were hoping you could teach us those cool martial arts moves you used!"

Genesis sent Luxiere a withering glance. "Since being..." Genesis paused and looked __down__ at Cloud. "__Underage__ prevents you from receiving standard SOLDIER training, we thought you could show us what you know already, and we could help you fill in the gaps."

Clever, but it wouldn't have fooled Cloud even if Luxiere hadn't said anything. "I'll be able to use swords as soon as I hit my growth spurt. It should be any day now."

Luxiere had a coughing fit, and Genesis smirked. "Until then, would you mind training in hand-to-hand with us? SOLDIER is branching out, you know. Swords are still a specialty, of course, but we intend to be accomplished at more than that."

Cloud wasn't sure how to answer. "I'll think about it."

"We'll leave you to it, then." Genesis replied smoothly, handed Cloud a keycard for the room, and started to walk away. He paused, then turned and raised an eyebrow. "Luxiere."

"Yeah?"

"If you wouldn't mind accompanying me." It was less request, and more exasperated command.

"Oh! Right, Genesis."

"That's __sir__ to you, Luxiere."

They walked down the hall, around a corner, and out of sight. Cloud stood there a moment, looking at his keycard. So they weren't going to keep a visible guard on him at all times; that was good. There were ways to get around electronic surveillance.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Cloud sat in a back corner of the cafeteria, sipping something carbonated and incredibly sweet. He didn't particularly care for it, but when a SOLDIER and a Turk both told you to drink and then glared until you did, well. He pushed the food around on his plate.

"Eat it, don't play with it."

"I still think you're overreacting." Cloud said, aiming for calm. It may have come out a bit sullen.

"__I__ still think we should drag you to the infirmary." Luxiere retorted.

"What __I__ said." Cloud replied.

"What Luxiere said." Freyra pointed at Cloud, "__Eat__, or we take you there anyway."

Cloud sighed, and ate a few more bites. The chatty Turk hadn't been a one time thing. She kept showing up. She'd be lingering just outside whatever training room he was in, and haul him off to the cafeteria. Sometimes she'd show up at his room and take him there. Cloud wasn't sure why she was so obsessed with his dietary habits. Maybe Freyra was one of those people who thought meals were a social occasion. Between her and Luxiere, he'd yet to eat in peace and quiet.

"It was just a small fracture. I'm fine." Cloud insisted, swinging his leg a bit and tapping the floor for good measure.

"Rhapsodos said his __sense__ and __cure__ fixed the 'clean, simple break', but said you should still get it checked out. So finish your food, and then go rest, or I'll change my mind about letting you skip out on the doctor."

Sometimes this Turk reminded Cloud of Tifa fussing over Denzel. The SOLDIERs weren't as bad, but even they had their moments. He had avoided the white lab coats so far through sheer stubbornness. It had been a little tricky, as minor training injuries happened, and everyone wanted to haul him off to the infirmary for the simplest things.

When Cloud had gotten settled in his new room, and had some time to think without being interrupted by nosy Turks, he considered the question posed by Luxiere and Genesis. At first, Cloud thought it was a kind of moral conundrum. Whatever the situation with Wutai, there was __some__ kind of hostility going on, and Yuffie wouldn't appreciate Cloud teaching Shinra her country's "secret ninja arts". Even if Yuffie had made up her moves, they weren't something he could just hand over to SOLDIER. Anyway, Cloud had never really gotten the hang of her specialties. Actually, he hadn't managed most of her "normal" techniques either. They were designed for a flexible, lightweight female to use, and he had the wrong musculature for them. Cloud had ended up mostly inventing ways to block and coming up with his own...that SNEAK! She hadn't taught him anything! He had obligingly put aside his sword and fought using methods he wasn't very good at, then handed over some of his best materia as a thank-you. Cloud was split between self-disgust and wonder at her sheer gall. Yuffie was a __conniving sneak thief.__

It had then occurred to Cloud, that he could pull the same trick on Shinra. The deal had always been materia for martial arts, and he was so different from the SOLDIERs, that they'd have to modify anything Cloud taught them, anyway. They would have to give him back his materia, and Cloud would bargain for more. He snickered and wondered how she had rubbed off on him so much - he'd never had Yuffie inside his head. __Thank Gaia__; Cloud was messed up enough without her kind of crazy added to the mix.

So he had agreed to show them his hand-to-hand, provided they gave Cloud back his materia. Negotiating for more was a work in progress. The problem they kept running into, was the SOLDIERs were tall and strong to begin with, and then they had added the mako enhancements. Even being careful, SOLDIERs received a fair number of training injuries, and Cloud was small and __not enhanced__. The first time Cloud hadn't moved away in time from a punch, and the black, prickly haze of almost-unconscious had faded, there had been several near frantic people crowding the room. Genesis' hands were glowing a faint green from a just finished __cure__, and Luxiere was peering at Cloud in concern. The SOLDIER Cloud had been fighting was talking very loudly with Freyra, and when had she gotten here?

"I'm telling you it was an accident, he's dodged everything else!"

"Well, I should __hope__ it was an accident; the question remains: __why__ were you swinging so hard in the first place?" Freyra bit back, and it sounded like the kind of conversation that had been going in circles for awhile.

"__Enough__." Genesis said. "Let's get you to the infirmary, Cloud." And then he reached over to, Cloud wasn't sure, maybe pull him up?

Cloud scooted back, and responded firmly, "I'm not going to the creepy Science people."

The room had gone mercifully silent, and then Genesis responded calmly, "The infirmary has doctors in it who will make sure you are uninjured. Some of them work in the Science Department also, but I haven't found them 'creepy'."

"I'm __not__ going to those cackling, white-lab-coat maniacs." Cloud had insisted. "My head is __fine__, it wasn't that bad of an injury." His head had still hurt a little, but he wasn't going to admit it, if it meant scientists would be involved.

"The doctors in the infirmary aren't maniacs, and don't-"

That had been the beginning of people trying to haul him away for every little thing. So far, he'd successfully won each argument, but there was still a price to be paid.

"-yeah and I suppose if the cat had actually been up that tree you would have been pretty helpful; drink some more of the juice kid, but it wasn't, so-"

"And I'm saying, it didn't matter if it was or not, I still climbed the tree, and-"

Cloud let his shoulders sag, and sipped more of the sickening beverage. With those two in the same room, the talking never __stopped__.

ooOOOoo

Cloud behaved circumspectly the whole time Genesis' section was present. He showed up bright and early at whatever training room was chosen for the day, and worked with the SOLDIERs. Around mid-day, he would be dismissed with, "That's enough for now, Cloud." After he had gone straight to his room a few days in a row, Freyra had showed up and started hauling him from sparring directly to the cafeteria. He had tried going back to train, or sneak off to one of the gyms after lunch, but he had been stopped by Genesis, who told him firmly to go rest.

His room was small, but definitely not a cell. Cloud did escape there when he wanted a break from people, or to think, but it became very dull to be there for hours on end. So, to scope out possible escape attempts for the future, Cloud became helpful. All those secretaries who thought he was adorable had some errand they were delighted for him to run. There were some dangers in using even this as a smokescreen. After a few days of fetching and carrying, Cloud explained to Freyra over lunch, that he could see the morning training as him "earning his room and board", but since he was doing part-time in the afternoons, he should get paid. Preferably with more materia. After this, he stopped seeing Turks __just happening__ to be in the same area as him. Cloud was careful not to go into any areas that looked important or secure; while there was a camera that would catch him, anyway.

Occasionally, Genesis would simply stride up to wherever Cloud happened to be, and take him to the Virtual Reality room. Usually shortened to VR room, it was used primarily to simulate terrain for practice skirmishes. It had other uses, however, and after fiddling with the controls, some kind of energy shield shimmered into place around the inside edges of the walls. Then they would play with materia. They discussed the ones Cloud and Genesis owned or had heard of, and how to truly master them. Genesis seemed fascinated with how Cloud had used Time, and they had one session where they traded Genesis' Barrier and Cloud's Time back and forth, trying to trip each other up.

That had been __fun__. Cloud started to feel winded around the sixth time he'd cast __reflect__ at Genesis, to prevent __stop__ from hitting himself. He hadn't known for sure if it was from draining his inner core of manna, or from laughing at how Genesis' hair had looked by that point. When they took a break for Cloud to catch his breath, he had explained this. The SOLDIER had simply rolled his eyes and huffed.

"I don't see why you're laughing; it took several powerful spells to make my hair stick up like this. Yours already does all the time, without such an excuse."

For the most part, though, Genesis and the others were very busy. After awhile, even Luxiere only showed up at meals to talk at Cloud. The SOLDIERs were all training intensely, and Cloud had snuck into the air vents a few evenings, to see what they were all doing in one of the meetings Cloud wasn't invited to join. Sometimes they discussed things like materia theory, combat tactics, and military stategy. Sometimes they seemed to be studying lists of monsters, and the general areas they were found in. Cloud knew most of the things they talked about, and what he didn't was boring enough he stopped eavesdropping.

Soon he gave up the afternoon errands with the explanation, "if I'm not getting paid in materia, I'm on strike", and napped. Then evenings and nights were spent crawling around the tower, sometimes in the vents, sometimes not. It was a massive place, and when he needed to get out quickly, he wouldn't have the ability to brute-force his way out like before. Lack of cameras or terminals, areas that didn't get a lot of traffic; he found a few routes with promise.

ooOOOoo

Cloud made himself scarce when the three sections converged back to Shinra Tower. It had been a busy hum of of low-key activity on floor sixty-three, but with all the SOLDIERs there at once, it was loud and crowded. Thirty men, most of whom could be described as small giants, all talking about what they'd seen and done, and then trying to beat each other up. Every training room and gym had anywhere from two to five SOLDIERs in them at any given time.

The third time he caught a glimpse of Sephiroth, with subsequent confusion about where Cloud was and what he was doing, he headed off to the most out of the way place he had found to date. He only avoided surveillance at night when he was supposedly in his room, so wasn't too surprised when Freyra eventually showed up.

She leaned against a filing cabinet, and said with a smirk, "You're not going to be able to avoid all that hubbub when you're a full-fledged SOLDIER, you know."

It was mostly Sephiroth that was the problem, but Cloud wouldn't deny he was tired of the noise. Also, "When I'm SOLDIER I'll be taller and enhanced, and so less likely to be stepped on." Cloud tried to say with some dignity.

Freyra laughed. "You've got a point there, kid. Even the Turks keep some distance when they all herd up like that. Come on, it's closer to dinner than lunch, and a little bird told me you ate like a bird at breakfast."

Cloud stood to follow, but gave her a sideways look. "They've probably eaten all the food anyway."

She reached out to ruffle his hair, which he deftly dodged. "There are more cafeterias in this building than the one on floor sixty-three, you know. We'll go to one of them."

Not too long after that, Genesis and Sephiroth left with their men, and SOLDIER's floor went back to tolerable. Cloud braced himself for seeing Zack. He wasn't sure how to handle that situation. So he was in a rather tense state for the first several days of training with Hewley's section. Until he'd met and fought with all of them, and __there was no Zack__. Cloud couldn't think of why they would put him with Sephiroth, but where else could he be?

That night, Cloud chose an out-of-the-way terminal, and very carefully accessed personnel records. He could wait until the next section came back, but... although Cloud had avoided the group as a whole, surely he would have noticed Zack?

Cloud was good at a lot of things, but hacking wasn't one of them. Still, a complete list of Shinra's employees wasn't terribly secret. He wasn't trying to figure out who all the Turks were, after all. Just find out the names of men who had signed up for an experimental procedure, which was classified as top secret. That should be how they __make__ SOLDIERs, though, not who was chosen. Everyone introduced themselves readily enough, and Cloud was pretty sure they were using their real names.

There was no Zackary Fair working at Shinra. There was only a Mabel Faire in Urban Development, and a Zach Vairen in the Space Department. Cloud spent a few moments wrestling down wild, racing thoughts about Zack being experimented on by the Science Department. Hojo hadn't done that before until after they were both declared KIA, or MIA, or maybe just deserters. Cloud was never sure about that part. If Zack wasn't here, it was because he hadn't joined yet.

Cloud wandered back to his room in a daze. That was so strange. Still, he supposed he couldn't expect everything around him to be the same as last time. When Tifa would make breakfast for the kids, Denzel would vote for pancakes some mornings, and waffles on others. Marlene and Denzel once had a very detailed discussion on how he decided. Tifa had rolled her eyes and said Denzel just felt like waffles that day, and would someone __please__ pass the syrup already? Cloud supposed life was like that. People might get up one day and decide to do something different than they had before. What could have happened that made Zack decide not to join SOLDIER, though? Maybe Cloud's memory was just too sketchy. Cloud did know that Zack had risen very quickly through the ranks. Maybe he joined older than some did. After far too long trying to puzzle out how much older Zack was than him, Cloud gave it up as a lost cause. A few years, he wasn't sure how many. Which led back to the question, how old __was__ Cloud? He was growing increasingly aggravated that he hadn't thought to ask his mother before he left.

Working with Hewley wasn't as easy as Genesis. The vague familiarity Cloud had felt with the latter had never turned into anything more than than that. It was refreshing to work with someone that didn't come with disturbing memories attached. When Cloud met Hewley for the first day of sparring with the new section, Cloud felt a bright, near joyful sensation, along with a strong urge to glomp the man, and yell "__Angeal!__". This was incredibly easy to push aside and label as not his own self. Nothing about that reaction was like Cloud at all, unlike some things he had to examine and think about first. Besides, that afternoon's sleep was interrupted with a sharp awakening from one of Cloud's own memories. A helicopter crash, a scar on Zack's face that never faded, and Zack holding the buster sword like he couldn't decide whether to hug it closer or throw it as far as he could. So __this__ SOLDIER 1st Cloud called by his last name, and was careful to avoid unnecessary crossing of paths. If Hewley had intended to seek Cloud out for anything extra, like Genesis did, Cloud never found out.

With the SOLDIERs so busy training, and his exploration of the building as complete as he could manage, Cloud was ready for the next step. After lunch, as soon as Freyra wandered off to do whatever Turks did in the afternoon, instead of heading to his room, Cloud left the building. "Tell someone if you're going to leave", Genesis had said. Cloud told one of the secretaries he had run errands for. She was on the elderly side, and amazing at filing things, but if you didn't write it down, she didn't necessarily remember to pass on messages.

Cloud had known it was unlikely he'd be done by evening, but it took far longer than he had expected. Every piece he needed was somewhere he wasn't. He had to run errands for this person, or dig through a different trash heap, and had to give up haggling in the interest of saving time. Cloud winced at how much gil some of the components cost. Finally, he'd gathered everything he would need. Cloud bundled it all up; bigger parts, little tiny pieces, tools, small containers of chemicals, and approached one of the least used exits of the Shinra Tower. Technically, it wasn't an exit, it was more of a garbage disposal area, fashioned a bit like a laundry chute. That you could access from the air vents. Whoever designed that tower needed his head examined; even Cloud wasn't that messed up. He left the bundle just inside a vent for later retrieval, and shimmied back out.

About mid-morning, he walked slowly up to Shinra Tower's entrance number three. This was the one most employees used, as it had easy access to the elevators. Keeping a firm hold on his handy, little rolly cart, he walked in, and punched the sequence that would make the elevator take him directly to floor sixty-three. When the doors opened on SOLDIER's floor, three people were waiting for him. Tseng was standing back farthest, looking...neutral. Hewley was a few steps forward from him, with his arms crossed. Freyra had been right next to the door, Cloud thought, as she grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the elevator.

"Where __were__ you, Cloud?" Freyra queried, and probably would have shook him a little, if Cloud hadn't neatly disentangled his arm from her grasp.

"Shopping." Cloud said, waving towards his purchase.

"All night?" Tseng asked blandly.

Cloud sighed. "It took longer than I thought to find one this size, and I figured the doors would be locked by the time I got back. So, I came back this morning instead." He finished with a faint smile, proud of himself. His misdirection was getting to be __amazing__.

"You were supposed to tell someone if you were leaving." Angeal Hewley said, a bit sternly.

"I told Aeghel."

"Who?" Hewley asked, confused.

"Aeghel, the secretary on floor forty-five. She's in charge of paid vacations. I told her I was leaving, and even though I missed morning training, it should still count as me working. You know, since I probably have a few days of vacation saved up by now." Cloud finished, trying not to grin. This "innocent" business was tough, how did Marlene do it?

"Next time, tell me or one of the SOLDIER 1sts , kid, __not__ one of the secretaries." Freyra said, exasperated.

Cloud shrugged. If all went to plan, there wouldn't be a next time. "Okay." He replied, and grabbed the cart's handle and pulled in the general direction of his room.

"What __is__ that, Cloud?" Hewley asked, following.

"Aquarium." Cloud said shortly, huffing from exertion.

"For what, a shark?" Freyra asked in disbelief.

Cloud stopped and caught his breath. "For Little Friend. You've kept him long enough, I get him back now. If you want a touch-me, you'll have to catch your own."

Tseng just made a "hmm" noise and left; Freyra rolled her eyes and followed Tseng. Angeal Hewley sighed, and took the cart handle from Cloud.

"You think this is going to fit in your room?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If not, I can move the bed out, and sleep on the floor." Cloud replied.

The SOLDIER shook his head and chuckled.

ooOOOoo

Cloud screwed a metal plate over the wires, and then got out the pliers. This wasn't like working on a motorcycle at all. Still, he had watched Tifa make several of these in a row one night, and Cloud was pretty sure he was doing it right. It was the best long-range idea he could come up with. His close-range attack on Sephiroth only worked because of the element of surprise. Several surprises all wrapped up into one neat package.

Cloud glanced at Little Friend. The touch-me was snoozing under a log in its aquarium. Hewley had helped him set up all the stuff for the inside so it was like a mini-jungle in there. Very nice of the man, even if he did back far away, and refuse the offer to pet Little Friend. It had been meant as a sincere thank-you; Cloud had proffered his mastered Heal with its __resist__ for the occasion. __Genesis__ would have taken Cloud up on the offer. Probably to try out the materia, more than petting Little Friend, though.

Cloud wrapped more wires around the packet of chemicals. This was an odd contraption, but Tifa had insisted it was fool-proof. "Jesshie taught thish t'me," She had slurred, having drank a shot every time she picked up a different tool. Apparently, it was an "old school AVALANCE special" whatever that meant. Passed down by someone to Jessie, then Tifa, who didn't exactly teach Cloud, more made multiples while he watched. At the time he was more interested in making sure she didn't set them off by accident than ancient AVALANCHE history. Some of it stuck with him though, and bits and pieces of trivia drifted through his mind while he worked.

Cloud pushed away a few bitter thoughts about what AVALANCHE had roped him into doing while he was still so suggestible from the mako poisoning. This time, he would make sure the only person caught in the blast was Sephiroth. Which made the timing and location incredibly important.

There was an office on SOLDIER's floor that Cloud thought was intended for the Firsts. He hadn't checked to see if all three used it when all the sections were together, but Genesis and Hewley had when they had been the only SOLDIER 1sts present. The evenings there hadn't been meetings, sometimes Genesis had stayed there until the early hours, doing some kind of paperwork. Or maybe just reading. The air vent wasn't very well located for spying on that room. The first several nights of Hewley's return he had been there, filling out charts and such. If Sephiroth was the same, that could be the location. Cloud was no architect, but even he could tell the walls of the office weren't load-bearing, and this particular bomb was small-area affect.

The problem came with timing. If he didn't care about potential innocents, he'd just set the bomb, and leave, and by the time it detonated, Cloud would be long gone. Except a few times, one of the SOLDIERs had interrupted the Firsts. Once it was three of them with some complaint Hewley handled with a pretty impressive combination of diplomacy, and sheer disappointment with their actions. If Cloud was amazing with computers like Reeve, this wouldn't be a problem. Cloud had watched him work a few times, and almost all the "how" of what the man did was still a mystery to Cloud. He had picked up enough to check for Zack, for instance, but being able to access and alter active security feeds and not get caught was way beyond his skill level. He'd have to be __sure__ Sephiroth was the only one in there, trigger the bomb, and then get out of Shinra Tower.

The majority of the surveillance cameras were just recording devices. If one stopped working right, someone would check the footage, so sabotage was out. But if Cloud chose just the right time, he could skip the door, and use the vent to place the bomb. He would still be caught on film, but no one would view it until after, when they were investigating.

The Turks would take it personally, a bomb going off in Shinra Tower on their watch, so they would figure it out __fast__.

There wouldn't be time to use the elevator, and the stairs would flood with security. Cloud would have to stick to the air vents. It was a really bad idea to only have one avenue of escape. What else could he do, though?

Cloud had a few more long days and nights to think about it when the sections all returned, but a better solution did not present itself to him. So, the day the next two sections were due to leave, in those early hours of the morning when everyone was in their apartments, Cloud sneaked into the Firsts' office, and placed the bomb inside Sephiroth's desk.

Then he paid Aeghel a visit, explained he was taking one of his vacation days, and then locked himself in his room. He wouldn't be able to act normal around this section when Sephiroth would be there. There were probably more subtle ways to handle this last day, but Cloud really didn't care at this point.

The tedium was only broken by Freyra trying to get him to eat. He sent her away with the excuse it was his day off, and she wasn't allowed to bother him. Finally, evening came, and he packed up his few things into his rucksack, and attached Little Friend to its staff. It was a pity the touch-me hadn't been able to enjoy the aquarium longer. He climbed into the air vent, and crawled to the office; no one was in there yet. Cloud cast __sense__, and moved to a vent that had a good view of the hallway. The materia's range was good enough, he was __sure__ no one had come this way, so the office was still empty. The hallway was clear, and Cloud waited.

Late enough floor sixty-three had actually gotten quiet, Sephiroth came down the hall. He was carrying a large stack of papers, and strode without pause into the office. Cloud thought it likely the first thing he'd do would be set down the paperwork. Would he sit down immediately, or pin things on that board they all used? Cloud waited, and listened, but no sound carried that could tell him what was happening. Then came a very faint one-sided conversation, like someone talking on the phone. The phone was on the desk, and so Cloud slipped the cover off his remote trigger, and clicked the button.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Cloud doubled back __again__, and tried a different route. His limbs had long since started trembling from fatigue, and he was feeling yesterday's lack of food keenly. Cloud was kicking himself from not at least trying to eat, despite the tension. Some of it probably would have stayed down.

Floor sixty-three was a long way from the ground, and that meant a lot of vents to travel. Every time he came to a junction he'd need to cross through a room for, there were people there; sometimes groups of them. He had written it off as coincidence, at first. The building was on high alert, and so the usual traffic patterns wouldn't apply. Except, with __sense__ active, it soon became obvious that every time he crawled into a new area, there would be clusters of people that hadn't been there before, and would leave after he did.

He had made his way all the way down to where he had left the bomb's components before, and the passage that connected to the garbage chute "exit" was sealed off. If he had a blowtorch, he might be able to get through, but nothing he had on him would do it. His next-best on the list was blocked as well. __They knew he was in the vents.__

The groups generally following his activity had changed from your standard employees, with a Turk or SOLDIER thrown in, to mostly Turks with a SOLDIER, to SOLDIERs and Turks in equal number. There shouldn't be that many of them in the building. Then Cloud caught a glimpse of Genesis, and then Hewley, and realized that he had been stuck in the vents long enough, that they'd had time to return to Shinra Tower. __Stupid!__ Cloud thought, but now wasn't the time to address his mistakes. He was almost to the third-best choice on his list, and that's when he caught a glimpse of long, silver hair through an air-vent. A wave of despair washed over him, and his head thunked down on the cold metal. Why couldn't that man _**_stay dead_**_? Cloud paused long enough, he heard a snippet of conversation from a nearby search-party. It sounded like they were looking for people small enough to crawl in after him.

Cloud thought frantically of some way to...there was a junction on floor thirteen that led to the ground floor, but had so many veering paths, he had avoided it. If he could fake everyone out, thinking he was down one of those, but took the vent that led to floor seventeen, which came out in a janitorial closet...he could slip across the hall there to that cheek-pinching secretaries office, get in that vent...and come out in the stairwell between floors two and three. That was almost to an exit, one that only opened with a special keycard. It was a simple mechanism, though, and Cloud should be able to short-circuit it with his Lightning materia.

This would have to be fast, Cloud thought. __Very__ fast. He left his rucksack behind, and took Little Friend off the stick, and tucked it into his jacket pocket. The staff was too awkward to maneuver in the vents; he wouldn't be able to use Little Friend on a group that size before being caught, anyway.

He made it as far as the stairwell. Maybe they were just that good, or maybe Cloud's senses were too muddled from exhaustion, but when he dropped from the vent to the landing, there were people on the stairs above him, and below, and by the time he'd be able to get back in the vent, they'd grab him. Cloud looked around wildly, and old visions of Scarlet's robots, and troops with red visors crossed his mind. This was it then, and it would be a worse end than Zack had. At least __he__ went out fighting. And succeeded in his goal, in a manner of speaking.

"Cloud."

That was...Genesis. What...Cloud wasn't on a cliff outside Midgar, he was on a stairwell in Shinra Tower.

"Cloud?" Genesis was a few feet from him, and was half-crouched, half kneeling; making him eye level with Cloud. Incidentally, there __were__ a few ways to defend yourself from that position. Or go on the offensive.

"Cloud Strife, can you hear me?" Genesis asked, gazing at Cloud intently.

Cloud shook his head to clear it; it made him kind of dizzy. "Yeah." Cloud replied, sounding shakier than he wished.

"Why were you in the vents?"

"I was trying to escape."

"Escape from what, Cloud?"

__Seriously?__ Cloud eyed the SOLDIERs and Turks on the stairway. If he bolted, would they aim to kill?

"__Answer__, Cloud." Genesis' voice was commanding, and jolted Cloud's attention back to the man.

"Shinra Tower."

"Why?" Genesis was unrelenting.

What, did they want a confession as well? "I detonated the bomb, and I would really prefer to be shot." Cloud didn't think he'd get a say, but he'd try; there were worse ways to go.

"You...prefer to be shot." Genesis voice sounded odd.

"I'd rather be shot than gassed. Or dissected. I don't want to be experimented on!" Cloud finished, his voice rising. What if they just handed him over to Hojo? Cloud had tried to kill his pet project, and that did __not__ end well last time.

"Calm down, Cloud. No one's going to shoot you." Genesis said soothingly. "You're not going to be __gassed__ or..._**_dissected_**_." He kind of choked out that last one.

"Do you remember the room you stayed in when you first came here?"

It took Cloud a moment process the subject change. "Yeah."

"I'm going to take you there, and we're going to have a __long__ conversation. I'll ask questions, and you will answer. __Actually__ answer, not give the run-around like you do to Freyra." Genesis said, raising his eyebrows in emphasis.

"But if Science decides to-" Cloud started.

"No one is going to hurt you." Genesis interrupted firmly. "I'm just going to ask you some questions."

Cloud knew this could only end badly. But there was no way to make a break for it without massive casualties, and they knew about the air vent trick, now. If escape was possible later, the cell wouldn't be any different than this stairwell. Maybe. Cloud slowly nodded.

He was escorted to the nearest elevator, and a sequence was punched in. Soon, Cloud was in a familiar cell. It looked about the same as last time, except there was also a chair, now. A Turk handed Genesis something at the door, and then closed it, leaving the two of them alone. Besides whoever was listening on the other side of the mirror.

Cloud was suffering from a medium version of one of his episodes. His memories were getting swimmy, and he started feeling slightly disconnected from his body. So when he tried to back up a step when Genesis reached for his shoulder, Cloud just stumbled, rather than dodged.

Genesis steered him to the cot, and pushed down firmly until Cloud sat. While he blinked in confusion, Genesis wrapped the blanket loosely around Cloud's shoulders, and handed him some sort of bottled energy drink.

"Drink it, Cloud." Genesis said tiredly.

Cloud did, and the bottle wasn't very steady, but Cloud resolutely did not look at his hands. Breathe evenly, and it would pass. Eventually.

Then Genesis pulled the chair forward, and sat down much closer than Cloud generally allowed. He wasn't exactly in a position to complain, though. Or move away.

"Now, I'm going to ask you questions, and you're going to answer. __Not__ with those long pauses where you drift off and seldom return. Understand? Good. Why did you detonate the bomb?"

Answer questions in this state? That was a terrible idea. Worse than every mistake he'd made to date. A fiasco in the making. If Cloud wasn't so experienced, he'd say the situation couldn't get worse. But he knew it could be far, far worse than this.

"_**_Cloud!_**_"

Cloud startled, and fumbled with the bottled drink. Genesis sounded exasperated. As well he should, but Cloud didn't know what to do. He opened his mouth, but then snapped it shut.

Genesis sighed, and ran a hand down his face. "You're not going to be __dissected__, or gassed, or meet any other gruesome ends your macabre mind has come up with. Just __answer the question__."

Cloud felt a little more focused. Still not looking at his hands, though. This was definitely a terrible idea, but at this point, it was just another drop in the bucket. After all, if he was now slated for execution, how would explaining make it worse? If they weren't going to give him over to Hojo, then he might as well cooperate...what had Genesis asked him?

"What was the question?" Cloud asked hesitantly.

"Why did you detonate the bomb?" Genesis repeated.

"To kill Sephiroth."

"Why did you try to kill Sephiroth?"

"He's going to destroy the world."

ooOOOoo

Genesis swept into the conference room, strewed a sheaf of papers on the table, and addressed the room at large. "There is the transcript, for what it's worth; make of it what you will." He threw himself into the nearest chair, folded his arms on the table, and slumped down until his forehead rested on them. He half-moaned, half murmured, "Ripples form on the water's surface. The wandering soul knows no rest."

"Honestly, Genesis, the dramatics are-" Lazard stopped. "What is this gibberish?" He asked in disbelief.

"__That__, Director, is the product of several hours interview with our dear, darling, would-be assassin, Cloud Strife."

"This looks like four separate sessions." Tseng stated, and looked inquiringly at Genesis.

"The first set I asked him while he was still visibly rattled, and required prompt responses. I followed by asking the same, phrased differently, and allowed him a __reasonable__ amount of time to reply."

"The third and fourth sets appear to be the same pattern." Veld interjected.

"Yes, only I allowed him to wait as long as he liked to answer for that last set, and you can see difference in response." Rhapsodos explained.

"The only thing he never contradicts himself on, is that Sephiroth is going to destroy the world." Here Rufus Shinra looked archly at Sephiroth, "You've been holding out on us. We had no idea you were capable of such a feat."

Sephiroth looked contemplative, and said something just under his breath.

Genesis turned to him in surprise. "You hadn't mentioned that before."

"I thought it was nonsense." Was the rejoinder.

"Could you say it loud enough for the unenhanced to hear?" Lazard asked.

"Just before he attacked me in the VR room, he said 'I'm trying to save the world.'" Sephiroth replied.

There was some shuffling of papers while they absorbed that, reading more of the transcript.

"What are these marks for?" Asked Veld.

"Even when he answered the same questions back to back, Cloud seemed mostly oblivious to the fact he was contradicting himself. Those marks are by the answers he did seemed confused by after he said them. He tried correcting __that__ one, where the past, present and future are all messed up, but I'm still not sure what his mother had to do with it." Genesis said, frustrated.

"I think Shinra would have noticed if an entire town was sent up in flames, even if it was a remote one." Rufus said dryly.

"Besides my 'destroying the world', the next thing he seems obsessed with is AVALANCHE." Sephiroth noted, moving on.

"Yes, he claims he built the bomb himself, but a member of AVALANCHE taught him how. In another...__here__, it says that someone else made the bomb, he was just a 'hired merc'." Lazard pointed out. "What are the chances they're the ones behind this?"

Veld replied, "We are still acquiring evidence, but I can send for what we already have." Here he glanced at Rufus, who nodded slightly.

The door opened and Freyra walked in.

"Did you two time that or something?" Lazard asked, giving Veld a __look__.

"Freyra isn't working on that part of the case." He replied, gazing expectantly at the newest addition to the room.

"Kid's asleep. __Actually__ asleep, not faking." She reassured her skeptical audience. "Let me see the transcript, he said something I want to double check." A copy was handed to her, and she skimmed quickly. "I thought so," she said pointing to the most problematic answer. "Why does he think someone's going to burn his mom up?"

"What? How did you get that out of it?" Genesis asked in disbelief.

"Cloud's from Nibelheim, and he mentions his mom in the same sentence as 'the town burning, everyone dying', when he's talking __about Nibelheim__. How did you miss that?"

"Cloud is from Gongaga." Veld said, staring at his subordinate.

"No, Cloud got the touch-me in Gongaga, but he's __from__ Nibelheim. Don't look at me like that, you think I talked to the kid for an hour every day for the last six months, and didn't find out anything about him? Didn't you read my reports?" Freyra replied, sounding increasingly indignant.

"That was Tseng's job, and until the child __set off a bomb__ he wasn't high enough priority for me to concern myself with." Veld said bitingly, and turned to Tseng.

Tseng ignored them, and switched to a different page of the transcript.

"How many times are you going to read that, Tseng?" Genesis inquired.

No answer was forthcoming, and the door opened yet again, to admit another Turk. He handed a report to Veld, who skimmed it quickly, re-read a few portions slowly, then handed it off to Tseng.

"The bomb was one of AVALANCHE's 'special messages'. To date, we've had two of these detonate in remote research facilities. There was one intended for a reactor, but we caught it in transit. They send an ultimatum, when we ignore it, they send the 'special message', and after their intended recipient in caught in the blast, they send a threat about the whole company going the same way. This is the first time they've aimed for someone so high-profile. They've never used such a __unique__ delivery boy either."

"There were no threats, either, sir." The Turk added.

Tseng put down the report. "You're dismissed." He said flatly. "You'll be briefed with further details on a need-to-know basis." He added with a slight nod to Freyra. She and the other man left the room.

The two remaining Turks shared a conversation with Rufus that consisted of raised eyebrows, pursed lips, and sideways glances.

"Could you say it loud enough for the SOLDIERs to hear?" Asked Sephiroth, dryly.

"There...__have__ been threats. They just weren't aimed at you." Veld replied, inclining his head toward Sephiroth. "They've mostly been aimed at the President, primarily about the reactors, but also a lot of anti-war pacifist speeches."

"That's a laugh, considering their usual methods of delivering said 'messages'." Lazard interjected.

They all fell silent for some minutes, digesting this strange series of events. Then Rufus turned to Tseng. "Have you formulated a theory, yet?"

Tseng slowly nodded. "There are still questions, and perhaps their answers would change the shape of the facts as we know them, but...based on this report, the transcripts, and Freyra's notes, I believe I have the most likely sequence." He paused, and furrowed his brow.

"Cloud Strife left his hometown of Nibelheim to join SOLDIER. On his circuitous route here, he ran into a member or cell of AVALANCHE. They coerced him into cooperating with them, most likely threatening to burn his hometown, thereby harming his mother. He must have made contact that day he left the Tower, and they gave him the bomb, or handed him the components then. Hewley checked the aquarium, did he think to check the cart?" Tseng asked Lazard.

"I don't have the faintest idea." Lazard replied, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Tseng motioned to a section of the transcript. "It says here, 'Sephiroth was the __only__ target; Cloud didn't want anyone else to get hurt like the other times'."

"That's transcribed wrong." Veld commented.

"No, it is not." Genesis said wearily. "He actually referred to himself in the third person. If you will note, that is the first set of questions, when he was still jittery, and wasn't given time to __contemplate____the existence____of the universe__ before answering."

"That is the part the doesn't fit." Tseng concluded. "The threats have been against the President, and the company. Not against SOLDIER in general or Sephiroth in particular. If he was fixated on joining SOLDIER when they gave him the mission, maybe he transferred targets of his own volition. He __was__ unnecessarily violent in that initial confrontation."

"Maybe AVALANCHE never expected him to get a bomb near the President." Lazard shrugged at the surprised looks he received. "Even the Directors go through a security check before talking to him, and a kid here to join SOLDIER wouldn't even get close. So, they tell him to set a bomb off where it will make an impact. That would be why they chose him. No one expects that kind of threat from someone so young."

"That still doesn't explain why he thinks I'm going to destroy the world." Sephiroth said, perturbed.

"I couldn't get him to extrapolate on that. You can see how I tried, but..." Genesis waved at the transcript.

"__This__ is an excellent opportunity." When Rufus had their undivided attention, he continued. "AVALANCHE is actively targeting the President. __All__ the Turks will need to investigate this threat that is far closer to home than Wutai. It is __imperative__ that we destroy this threat to Shinra's might before we seek out more conflict. Having this terrorist group be a credible threat is an __embarrassment__ to the company. We will need __all__ of SOLDIER nearby to provide protection for the President and Directors. After all, if __Sephiroth__ was targeted, __who is next__?" Rufus formed a tight-lipped smile, and he received a few in return.

"I'm going to go explain this situation to the President. Get me hard, factual evidence, written into __convincing__ reports to show him by this time tomorrow." Rufus rose, and headed towards the door.

This galvanized the others present as well, the Turks swiftly moving to flank the younger Shinra.

"Rufus," Lazard asked quietly before they all dispersed, "What do we do about the boy?"

Rufus sighed, and turned to answer. "Has he shown __any__ aggression or hostility to anyone else?"

Tseng shook his head. "None at all, sir."

"Is there a mental health clinic that is capable of holding him?"

"Probably not, sir."

"Then I'll leave handling him to SOLDIER." Rufus said, but his statement was directed at Sephiroth rather than Lazard. He turned back to Tseng. "If I hear his name connected with 'bomb' __ever__ again, I'll hold SOLDIER and the Turks personally responsible."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

It was kind of important to escape __before__ they took him away to be executed, but Cloud couldn't get them to tell him when that would be. Freyra came in like a whirlwind for breakfast the first day, and explained she would be absent for a couple days, and to __eat__, and not kill anyone while she was gone. The rest of his meals were delivered by Turks that Cloud regarded as the more usual kind; they said practically nothing, and what they did say was ambiguous.

Cloud was considering attempting a break-out when Freyra returned, bringing dinner with her. "Hello Cloud," She said, smiling brightly at him.

If it was strange to have a Turk smile at him before, it made absolutely no sense now. "When am I going to be executed?" He asked, yet again. If anyone was going to tell him, it would be Freyra.

"__What?__ You're not- hasn't-anyone-" She broke off with a growl. Freyra scooted her chair forward a bit and leaned closer to Cloud. He scooted back, and leaned away. She sighed.

"You. Are. Not. Going. To. Be. Executed." She said clearly, emphasizing each word. "We know about AVALANCHE, Cloud."

What did that have to do with anything? Of course Shinra knew about AVALANCHE, they regularly bombed the company, after all. If they thought he was a member, why…Cloud was confused, and it must have shown on his face. Because Freyra sighed again, then took a deep breath and explained.

"If you were an adult, and did this of your own volition, it would be different, kid. We figured out about them threatening your mom, though, and honestly, that's a pretty tough position to be in, huh?" She said, giving him a consoling smile.

Cloud had...__no idea__ what she was talking about.

"Going forward though, you absolutely __have__ to tell us if they contact you again. This is non-negotiable, Cloud. You don't cooperate with them anymore, no matter what they say. You tell me, or Tseng, or Genesis if they do, alright?" When Cloud just stared at her, she continued, "I'm going to go check on your mom myself, and make sure AVALANCHE hasn't done anything nasty to her.

"This is __important__, Cloud, you need to repeat back to me what I said, so I know you understand." Freyra insisted.

"If AVALANCHE contacts me, I'm supposed to tell the Turks or Genesis, and not do anything for them." Cloud replied, bewildered.

Freyra nodded and sighed in relief, "__Yes__. Do __not__ do anything AVALANCHE asks you to." She reiterated. "I'll be gone for a couple days again. You're going back to your room on floor sixty-three. There will be some rules and instructions __which you will follow__. Do what Genesis tells you, huh?"

Cloud nodded, completely disconcerted. __What had he said in that interview?__

ooOOOoo

"In the event your memory fails you, here is something to prompt it." Genesis said deliberately, handing Cloud a laminated piece of paper. It had the "new rules" listed on it in bulletin format. Contact with AVALANCHE was strictly forbidden. The top five rules also included "not making, planting or detonating bombs", and "not attempting to kill anyone, especially Sephiroth". Strangely enough, eating regularly was number four, just above "don't enter the air vents".

"SOLDIER is going to be rather chaotic for a couple of weeks, until we get used to the new schedule. So other than going to the cafeteria, or training room two if you like, please stay in your room. After things calm down, we'll arrange something else. __Stay out__ of the air vents. When the other Firsts and I have a little more time, I want to see," Here Genesis motioned to the camera in the hallway outside Cloud's room, "That you have followed __all__ the rules listed."

Cloud nodded in acknowledgment. He was beginning to be slightly creeped out by the lack of serious consequences. He had tried to __blow up Sephiroth__, and no one seemed to care.

"What happens if Hojo comes in the night to take me away and-" Cloud didn't get to finish.

"__No one__ is going to experiment on you. If anyone, including Professor Hojo, approaches you for such a thing, the Turks will deal with them." Genesis had that odd tone in his voice again, but Cloud simply couldn't interpret it. The SOLDIER also seemed to be waiting for some kind of response, but Cloud didn't know what Genesis wanted him to do or say.

"Shinra's __weird__." Cloud finally settled on.

"__You're__ weird." Genesis responded, without heat.

ooOOOoo

The next week passed by slowly, the quiet of his room a marked contrast to the rest of floor sixty-three. It wasn't quite like before, all the men weren't there at one time; they seemed to be continually coming and going. Cloud listened in to a few conversations, but didn't socialize much, himself. Luxiere would sometimes be in the cafeteria the same time as Cloud, and would always come over to say hello, and occasionally eat with him. Cloud hadn't really "made friends" with anyone else. Two of the sections were familiar, he did train with them for…awhile. How long had he been here now?

Cloud had some money left from his long trek, and had sold a mastered materia on his trip outside Shinra Tower, so he sent that with Freyra to give his mother. He had wanted to get some gil to his mom for the Spring delivery to Nibelheim, and this way he wouldn't have to rely on the mail. So, keeping track of time wasn't really an issue until Autumn, now.

Except for the Sephiroth problem. The more time passed...the less time Cloud had to stop him. Cloud hadn't hit his growth spurt yet; that is, he was pretty sure he'd grown two inches, then stopped. That hardly counted, and he was still a long way from being able to win a sword fight with Sephiroth. However, Zack wasn't here yet, so Cloud thought there should be enough time to try again. He just hadn't come up with a method, yet.

He also wasn't sure how the man survived the bomb. Cloud hesitated to bring it up, even with Luxiere. At first, Cloud thought that somehow it had been hushed up and no one __officially__ knew he had done it. Then he connected the dots between the bomb, Freyra's bizarre conversation, Genesis' rules, and the SOLDIER's behavior around him. The first few times Cloud went to the cafeteria, a significant number of the men had assured him, that if anyone threatened him or anyone he cared about, he could tell them, and they'd go beat them up. There were variations on that, such as "destroying all they held dear", and "slice them to ribbons with my katana", but they all boiled down to the same thing.

So the SOLDIERs knew Cloud had tried to kill Sephiroth, but attributed his motive to...something else. It made talking about it kind of awkward, and Cloud had made enough mistakes with his two plans, there was plenty to keep him busy thinking, even without knowing exactly what happened. Luxiere would probably let the details slip before too long, anyway.

One of the main problems, was Cloud just couldn't plan a viable escape to save his life. Literally. His luck had surely run out with this last stunt, and he wouldn't get away with another failure, so now it was time to change course.

He'd do something that couldn't possibly be tied back to him. They let Cloud off easy this time, thinking he ran afoul of AVALANCHE; next time they wouldn't even suspect him. He just had to come up with a plan.

ooOOOoo

When Freyra came back, she started joining him for lunch again. Conversations with her became increasingly strange.

"Your mom was alive and unharmed by AVALANCHE."

"Good." Cloud said. He hadn't expected otherwise; Sephiroth hadn't gone with Freyra, Cloud had been sure to ask before she left.

"That's it?" Freyra asked after a minute, disbelief coloring her tone.

What else was Cloud supposed to say? Freyra continued to stare, so he asked, "Was that enough gil to get her through til Autumn delivery?"

"Yeah, kid, that was plenty." She replied, then proceeded to look at him sadly for the rest of the meal. She didn't even fill in the silence with her usual chatter.

Not long after that, Freyra started talking about Mideel at lunchtime. Cloud didn't remember what it was like before it blew up, so that was actually pretty interesting. Then she started talking about the different kinds of clinics that were there. He...tolerated that, okay. It was considered an excellent place for healing all kinds of illnesses. The Lifestream was very close to the surface, it had a great many natural hot springs, and the weather was temperate and sunny for most of the year. It sounded idyllic. Cloud couldn't figure out why she was telling him all this, when he realized, a couple days ago Freyra had slipped up, and mentioned it was her hometown.

Well, that explained it. She had just been to Cloud's hometown, and she couldn't help missing her own. He didn't remember enough good things to miss his, but from the way Freyra described Mideel, she must be homesick. Still, Cloud was pretty sure Turks weren't supposed to tell people where they were from. It was some kind of security breach, right?

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you're from Mideel." He assured her.

He had received a completely bewildered look in reply. Cloud sometimes considered giving up talking entirely. He was __really__ bad at conversations.

ooOOOoo

Then one day, the reckoning came. Apparently, everyone else ignored his trying to kill Sephiroth, because it was Genesis' job to mete out punishment.

"The clamor and chaotic change is accomplished." Genesis announced to Cloud.

Cloud stared at him. From previous experience, he knew that eventually, the man would get tired of waiting, and explain __what in Gaia__he was talking about.

"SOLDIER is, for the foreseeable future, in charge of security shifts here in the Tower. As well as the occasional patrol around Midgar or the wastes. We will reconvene training, in these hours and rooms." Genesis said, handing Cloud a schedule, and indicating certain highlighted parts, "You may join in these particular sessions, provided Angeal or I are present at the time. The same rules about sparring as at first."

"Okay." Cloud nodded.

"Our office has been repaired, and there is a veritable mountain of paperwork piled up on my desk, so you are going to come and help."

Cloud was familiar enough with the building he could deliver the papers anywhere, but, "I'm not supposed to leave the floor, I won't be able to deliver your papers."

Genesis made a 'hmm' noise in the back of his throat. "You're not going to be delivering papers." He started walking towards the Firsts' office, and when they got to the door, he motioned for Cloud to enter. "After you." Genesis said.

Cloud raised an eyebrow in question, but Genesis only arched one of his own in response, so Cloud stepped inside. Well, that answered that question. The Firsts did use it at the same time. All three of them. Hewley was standing up, leaning against his desk; sitting behind his own, was Sephiroth. Cloud turned around to bolt for the hallway, which resulted in near-crashing into Genesis, who was standing directly behind him. Rhapsodos grasped Cloud's shoulders firmly, spun him around and walked forward with him until they were about in the middle of the room.

"I don't believe you two have been properly introduced, ere now. Sephiroth, this is Cloud Strife. Cloud, this is my good friend Sephiroth."

The room was very still. Then Sephiroth said quietly, "Hello, Cloud Strife."

"Well," Genesis said after it became clear Cloud wouldn't respond, "Now that you've been introduced, how about some pleasantries. Sephiroth, the roads into the wastes have been dreadful lately, does this make you feel like destroying the world?"

"They have been dreadful, but I haven't felt like destroying the world at all today." Sephiroth replied, still very quiet.

"Cloud, I think the weather today is terrible for trying to kill Sephiroth. Don't you agree?"

Genesis pulled off innocent and charming far better than Cloud had ever managed. If this wasn't such an impossibly fake situation, that is. Genesis squeezed Cloud's shoulders a little.

"Cloud. Do you agree?" Genesis asked.

Cloud eventually nodded his head, jerkily.

"Excellent!" Genesis sounded delighted. "So now the introductions and pleasantries are over, let's settle down to work." He steered Cloud towards his desk and offered him the extra chair near Genesis' own. After they were both seated, the man pushed a large stack of papers towards Cloud. "Sort these into separate piles for those categories." He said, tapping the labels on several trays.

That was it. After a minute, Angeal walked around to his chair and sat down as well. He typed something on the computer for most of the evening, occasionally stopping to check some papers at his right hand.

Genesis scribbled away at this and that, and slipped folders into the labeled trays. He made little frustrated noises at the paperwork from time to time, followed by more scribbling.

Cloud spent the evening gripping the armrests of the chair he was sitting in, controlling his breathing, and not looking directly at Sephiroth. Cloud kept his head turned so he could see out of the corner of his eye where the man was at all times, but paid him no more attention that that. His hands hurt after awhile, but that was good. When they started to feel __wrong__, Cloud shifted, and gripped the armrests tighter. He never lost track of where he was, just had a little double-vision going at times. As long as Cloud could see that Sephiroth was at that desk, he was able to dismiss the other images as past, not present.

Genesis made no comments or complaints about Cloud not helping with even one paper. After a stretch of time Cloud had no way of gauging, Genesis turned to look at him and said softly, "You can go now, Cloud."

Cloud did not run from the room. He did have __some__ dignity, and running was not something he was going to do after managing to stay for…this long. He also wasn't completely convinced he wouldn't fall flat on his face if he tried. He walked as quickly out of that office as he trusted his legs to carry him, went straight to his room, and locked the door.

ooOOOoo

The next stretch of time was a blur. Cloud knew it had been at least several weeks, because he started keeping track of how often Rhapsodos hauled him to that abominable office. It was about twice a week, and the days in-between weren't quite enough time to recover. His episodes got severe enough, that Cloud found himself asking Angeal about Zack __out loud__. Cloud may have mentioned Zack to a few of the other SOLDIERs as well, before he caught himself, and stopped sparring with Hewley's section. It really wasn't safe to have a friendly fight when Cloud was this muddled.

Then, slowly, it got better. It felt like something shifted in his head, and the episodes became milder again, then stopped altogether. Cloud would sit by Rhapsodos' desk, without double vision, stay firmly rooted in the present, and stopped impressing grip marks on the armrests of the chair. The Firsts began to talk amongst themselves after that, quietly and a little subdued, but there were conversations. Once in awhile Hewley or Rhapsodos would address a question or comment to Cloud, and sometimes he would reply to Hewley. Sephiroth had the good sense to never say anything to Cloud. Except for the apparently mandatory "pleasantries" Rhapsodos insisted on __every time__ Cloud entered the office. Cloud wasn't sure what the man thought would be accomplished by that, but didn't ask, because he __wasn't speaking__ to Rhapsodos.

That man hadn't showed up to haul Cloud to a meeting this week, he realized. At first, he thought they had caught up on the paperwork, and weren't spending much time in their office. Then, floor sixty-three got a little...odd. The SOLDIERs were tense and unhappy, and less of them hung around the training rooms in their spare time. Then one of them collapsed in the cafeteria, and __no one was surprised__. Two of the SOLDIERS helped the fallen one up, and spoke calmly about getting him to the infirmary with "the others". Cloud's best source of information would be Luxiere, except, he hadn't seen him for awhile. __The Turks won't like this__, Cloud thought, but decided being upfront was the best way to do it. He chose a terminal in plain view of a camera, and proceeded to search the records for where the talkative SOLDIER had gotten to. Luxiere had been in the infirmary until yesterday, and was then released, bed rest recommended. A little more clicking and typing, and Cloud had the room number. On floor sixty-three of course, so no need to argue with anyone about leaving.

"Come in," came Luxiere's voice after Cloud knocked. "Cloud? Hey, kid." Luxiere attempted to smile at him, but it came out more of a grimace.

Cloud pulled a chair away from the wall, sat down, and peered at Luxiere. He was propped up against the headboard of his bed, slumping down amidst more pillows than Cloud had ever owned in his life. The SOLDIER's face had a nasty gray cast, and if the dark circles under his eyes were any indication, sleeping either wasn't helping, or he wasn't getting enough of it. There were small blue-black contusions here and there on his arms and neck. Luxiere looked a lot like the worse-off Stigma victims Cloud had seen.

"Are you going to die?" Cloud asked, worried. Geostigma had been terminal, and if this was similar…

Luxiere barked a hoarse laugh. Why was that man always laughing at him? He pushed himself up on the pillows a bit, and shook his head. "I look that bad, eh? Hey, don't scrunch your face up like that, I'll be fine. I'm just gonna to feel awful for awhile."

"You feel up to talking?" Cloud asked, still eyeing the pallor of the man's face. "I can come back when you're feeling better." Cloud really wanted to know what was going on, but he could find out some other way if Luxiere was too sick to handle visitors.

"No way, I was stuck in the infirmary for days, and everyone's super busy or sick there, it was __boring__." Luxiere brightened; it didn't do good things to his grayish complexion. "The only thing I'm dying for is someone to talk to." He gave a raspy chuckle at his poorly phrased joke.

Cloud told himself not to regret this. It was a two-fold thing; he got information, and a sick man got some company. Long, long after anyone else that ill would have sent Cloud away, Luxiere kept talking.

Apparently, security in Shinra Tower had been ramped up in response to AVALANCHE's threats and bombings. So the Turks started keeping a better eye on communications within the building, in case the terrorists had someone on the inside. You know, someone willing, not poor Cloud. __Poor Cloud? What had he __said__in that interview?__

The Turks screened all the Departments' messages, discreetly of course, and found evidence that several people were sabotaging SOLDIER. Not a known member of AVALANCHE, not some disgruntled employee, not one of the anti-war activists slipping into a janitorial role to cause trouble, (__that was...oddly specific__) but the Director of Science himself, and a number of his subordinates and colleagues. __What?__

Professor Hojo was currently being detained by the Turks in regards to the SOLDIER treatments. The not-so-good-doctor had been giving the men injections with unnecessary and harmful substances that would result in...well they weren't sure yet, but in light of the looming war with Wutai, meddling with SOLDIER was a bit like declaring yourself on the other side. It also had the potential to cost the company a lot of gil, as the process to make a SOLDIER had been prohibitively expensive, and Hojo was putting the "completed version" at risk to experiment for as of yet, unknown reasons. __Of course it would come down to money.__

"That doesn't explain why you're sick." Cloud finally interrupted the long-winded torrent of information.

"They stopped the injections we were getting, and some of us got really sick, like, withdrawal or something, so they tried flushing it out with something, but that made them __really__ sick, and now it's just kind of, whoever gets sick next, goes to the infirmary, y'know?"

No, Cloud did not know, and Luxiere was __definitely__ sleep-deprived, if he thought that was a good explanation. "Everyone isn't sick, though." Cloud finally settled on.

"Some of us got sick right away, and they're starting to get better already, some were later. If I'm like most of us, I'll be on my feet in a few days. Won't be able to fight for awhile." Luxiere grumbled.

"__Everyone__ gets better? No one has died, right?" Cloud still thought Luxiere looked like he had Stigma.

"You are one morbid kid, you know? __Yes__, we're all getting better. Couple of the first to get sick are still in the infirmary, but they're __getting better__. Just slower than the others. Commanders Hewley and Rhapsodos haven't gotten sick at all, neither have a couple others. Maybe they won't." Luxiere shrugged.

"So, how 'bout we talk about something else now? I don't think I've told you this one. When my section was out, south of Costa Del Sol near the desert, we saw this bird; I guess I should mention I had lost a bet, and __after__ that we saw this bird, so-"

Cloud wandered back to his room, and let himself get lost in thought. Before, to his knowledge, Hojo had never gotten into any kind of trouble for the horrific experiments he'd done. Still, they were only 'detaining' him, maybe he'd get off. In the end, Cloud supposed it didn't have much affect on him. He still needed to kill Sephiroth, and hadn't figured out how, yet. Although...Hojo's sabotage would make the Turks suspicious. They would double-check and triple-check all the Departments. If one Department was trying to mess up Shinra's precious SOLDIER program, would it be such a stretch to believe more were, as well? Cloud sat by his window long into the night, thinking subversive thoughts.

ooOOOoo

Little by little, the SOLDIERs became fit for duty again, and life on floor sixty-three returned to normal. Cloud even went back to training with Hewley's section. Then, Rhapsodos approached him, one of his SOLDIERs trailing behind. "Cloud." Rhapsodos greeted him with a smile.

Cloud looked at the man, and said nothing.

Rhapsodos sighed, and said, "We're going to the VR room," He saw the expression on Cloud's face and continued, "Just the three of us." He motioned with his hand, indicating the other SOLDIER present.

Cloud followed, and Rhapsodos switched on the energy shield for the inner walls, then turned to Cloud expectantly. "I'll make you a deal. If you help me master this one," Here Rhapsodos held up a Barrier materia, "You can have the offshoot, when it forms."

The man was smiling at him, no doubt intending to come off as charming. Cloud knew it was fake, though. As ridiculous as exchanging __pleasantries__ with Sephiroth. Cloud glowered at Rhapsodos.

"It's newly formed itself, so it will take some time to master, but the more spells you hit me with, the sooner you'd have it." He spun it around, then slotted it into a wristcuff, and raised an eyebrow in query. "Well?"

The man was completely shameless. "Bribery." Cloud said flatly, the first thing he'd spoken to Rhapsodos for...quite some time.

The SOLDIER tilted his head to the side, his red hair shifting to hide half his face. He assumed a beguiling expression. "Is it working?"

Cloud considered. "Materia only, no holding back?"

"If you like." He replied, agreeably.

The man really had no idea. Cloud smiled. He rolled up his sleeve, and removed Revive from his armband. He turned to the SOLDIER 2nd standing nearby. "You ever use __life__ before?" Cloud asked, still smiling.

"Once," he responded, eyeing Cloud nervously.

"You should probably wait on the other side of the door, and stand by to practice it." Cloud said, his smile turning to a sharp grin as he turned back to Rhapsodos. This was going to be __fun__.

ooOOOoo

Cloud needed to move around Shinra Tower again, without Turks getting suspicious. This would take some time, he thought, still disgusted with his previous failure. Still, if Cloud's job was to be in all sorts of places through the building, then there would eventually be less scrutiny given to his whereabouts. So, back to running errands for the secretaries; first though, to get off floor sixty-three.

It wasn't too hard to convince Genesis that having Cloud deliver all those papers where they belonged would significantly decrease the Firsts' workload. Part of the backlog was simply not having time to get everything to the right people – they didn't have a secretary themselves. Not an oversight, per se. Apparently, the Firsts hadn't liked any of the applicants, and there hadn't been time to try again, with the recent upheaval. With an exasperated promise of Sephiroth not being in there right now, Genesis and Cloud headed for the office.

"-So the first tray __is__ supposed to go to Aeghel, but it will have to be revised by Livea first; she's office six on-"

"Floor twelve." Cloud finished for him, as they walked through the door. They both came to an abrupt halt. __He__ wasn't supposed to be here. Cloud looked at Genesis in betrayal, but the man looked more surprised than Cloud felt.

"What are __you__ doing here, __exactly__?" Genesis demanded, crossing his arms and frowning at Sephiroth.

He'd never heard Genesis use that tone with Sephiroth. Cloud turned back, and...oh. Sephiroth looked __terrible__. His face was the same color as his hair, which was not its usual shining silver, but a dull, matte gray. He was wrapped up in warm, concealing clothing, but his face was showing, of course, and there was a blue-black mark stretching across his cheekbone on one side.

"If I can sit up in bed and read, I can certainly sit in a chair for a few hours and fill out paperwork." Sephiroth said in reply, his voice raw.

"The question is, are you supposed to be sitting up at all yet?" Genesis retorted. He marched jerkily over to his own desk and snatched up a large stack of files. "Here, Cloud. All the ones I mentioned, besides a handful for Requisitions on floor-"

"Nineteen, office seven. Everyone else is better now, did he get sick last?" Cloud addressed the question to Genesis, but looked directly at Sephiroth.

"I became sick first." Sephiroth said to Cloud, his mouth twisting bitterly. "Professor Hojo was __especially__ fond of injecting me with 'unknown substances'."

"Cloud," Genesis said, his tone urgent. "Today is a terrible one for trying to kill Sephiroth. You have entirely too many files to deliver. __Don't you agree__?"

Cloud ignored Genesis, and said vehemently, "Hojo is a twisted, sadistic, psychopath who deserves to be tormented by Rubicante in Pandemonium __forever__."

Sephiroth blinked, then sharply nodded. Cloud nodded sharply in return, and quickly walked out of the office. He was within earshot for a few moments after he left.

"__Well__, I'm so glad you and Cloud found something to agree on. I'm sure you'll agree with __me__, when I say you should __rest__, and if you don't, I'll get Angeal to-"

That sounded like the beginning of an interesting threat, and if it was someone else, Cloud may have lingered. But he had come perilously close to __being in accord__ with Sephiroth, and that was...Cloud shook his head, and punched a few buttons on the elevator keypad. He was getting off this floor.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Angeal Hewley and Freyra walked into the armory in time to see Cloud pouring a viscous liquid over a leather trench coat laid out on the floor.

"Yes, __obviously__ it's working, and I can see how __resist__ and __reflect__ would have an effect, but how does __confuse__ have any purpose in this application?" Genesis, sans his usual coat, was hovering near Cloud's shoulder, overseeing the process.

"What are you two up to?" Freyra asked, surveying the mess they'd made of the floor.

Cloud answered without looking up, "Fixing Genesis' jacket. It got a bit," he smirked, "__singed__."

"It's a __trench coat__, not a jacket!" Genesis said, affronted.

"Pfft, it only goes to your knees, not the floor, so __jacket__." Cloud replied.

"Please, __dusters__ are floor length. Closer to dresses, really." Genesis said, disdain dripping from each word.

Cloud laughed at that, seeming to find it terribly amusing for reasons neither Freyra or Hewley could understand.

"He's certainly in a good mood today," Angeal said to Genesis, as Cloud continued to snicker.

Genesis swept his hair out of his face, little crackles of residual __bolt__ sparking through the strands. "We were training my Barrier materia again."

Freyra and Angeal exchanged a look, and then subsided into semi-awkward silence. Cloud was now rubbing a faintly glowing materia over the trench coat, and Genesis had left off watching him, to eye the other two speculatively.

"What are __you__ two up to?" He inquired.

"We need to talk about 'Zack'." Freyra said with sigh.

Cloud dropped the materia with a clatter, "Zack's here? Where is he?"

Freyra winced. "No, he's not here, and you need to stop checking the records for him. You're not supposed to be accessing those at all, and you're doing it every other day."

Cloud went a little red, and glanced away, mumbling.

"The guys didn't mind you talking about Zack, so I don't understand why you switched to messing with the computers. You know the Turks get twitchy about that." Angeal said with a sideways look at Freyra.

"Why are you checking the records for him, kid?" Freyra asked, after it became apparent Cloud wasn't going to say anything in response.

"I'm...making sure he's not here yet." Cloud finally replied.

"You told me and several of the others that Zack was in SOLDIER already, Cloud. Why wouldn't he already be here?" Angeal said, slightly patronizing.

"I don't know! I keep looking for him, but he's not here yet!" Cloud exclaimed, starting to look distressed and slightly confused.

Genesis gave an unimpressed glance at Angeal, and said quietly, "Who is Zack? I don't think you've mentioned him to me."

"My friend. He's in...__will be__ in SOLDIER. He just hasn't gotten here yet."

"Where did you meet him?" Genesis waited, and when Freyra opened her mouth to no doubt prompt an answer, he gave her a warning look. They all waited.

"We haven't met yet." Cloud finally replied.

Freyra made a frustrated noise, and threw her hands in the air. She motioned to Angeal, who nodded.

"Okay, well, if you want to talk about him to any of us, that's fine, but you need to __stop__ using the computer to check for your imaginary friend." Angeal finished, frustrated.

Cloud jerked back as though the man had punched him. His eyes glazed over for a moment, then came sharply into focus. "I didn't _**_imagine_**_ it. __He said__ we were friends!" The boy almost shouted, his breathing ragged.

Genesis made a pained noise, and said hurriedly. "I'm sure Angeal didn't mean-"

Cloud either didn't hear, or ignored the man. He stalked forward until he was close enough to jab a finger in Hewley's chest. "He was a far better friend to me, than you ever were to him. When the going got tough, he got tougher, unlike you, whose '__honor__' didn't last the first hard thing that came your way!"

"What." Angeal said, looking __down__ at the boy. Cloud was glaring ferociously, and if he was a foot taller, with another hundred pounds on him, it might have been intimidating to someone __unenhanced__. As it was, "My honor is-"

"A joke, that's what it is. You're a __terrible__ mentor! And Zack won't care, because he likes __everybody;__ he was even friends with __Sephiroth__." Cloud said, as though the last really beggared belief.

"I haven't mentored anyone, but if I did, I certainly wouldn't be __terrible__ at it. And my honor is not something that flies away at the first sign of hardship." Angeal said, glaring back forbiddingly.

"So, if everything you thought you knew was true turned out to be false, you wouldn't go off the deep end and abandon everyone who depended on you?" Cloud asked, skeptically.

"__No__, I wouldn't." Angeal said, decisively.

"You wouldn't betray Zack and __make him kill you__, when you're supposed to-"

"I would __never__ do that! I will be the __best mentor ever__ to him, and my honor will remain __unblemished__." Angeal practically growled at the boy.

This gave Cloud pause. He was still breathing hard, but seemed to be calming down. "He wouldn't have it any other way, __anyway__." Cloud said, addressed to no one in particular. Then to Hewley, a sharp, "See that it does." Cloud stormed out of the room.

"… … … What. Was. That." Freyra said, looking from the SOLDIER, to the door Cloud had shot through, back to Hewley again.

The man looked completely flummoxed. "I...I'm not sure what just happened."

Genesis Rhapsodos crossed his arms, leaned against a locker, and drawled, "You just upset a mentally disturbed child during one of the few moments he was calm and __happy__. He retaliated by impugning your honor. You then proceeded to promise you'd be the __best mentor ever__ to his imaginary friend." Genesis smiled, and somehow, it was more unnerving than if he'd unsheathed his sword. "If Cloud starts acting as though 'Zack' is in the room, instead of just looking for him, I expect you to play along, since you're the fellow's 'best mentor ever' now."

Angeal Hewley groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I'm never arguing with that kid again."

ooOOOoo

It had only been a matter of time. Cloud hummed to himself as he pulled a stack of boxes on his rolly cart. Papers delivered from SOLDIER to other floors, then files in-between offices in other Departments, now moving these boxes. Five secretaries on three different floors had decided their jobs would be far more efficient if they all had the same office; on a floor other than any of the ones their offices were already on. Personally, Cloud thought they just wanted to talk to each other all day without having to drum up excuses to leave their work station. If the amount of files they were responsible for was any indication, they worked __faster__ than they talked, so were probably some of the more valuable employees. Which would be why they had gotten permission to move and so many people to help, Cloud figured, as a harried Turk made their escape.

"-and you can tell Tseng if he doesn't like it, he can fill out his own 734YK forms next time!" Livea called after the fleeing Turk.

"Oh, Cloud, put those ones over here." One of the others said to him. "We still don't have that filing cabinet from WepDev, do you have time to go get it for us, honey?"

"Don't have the right keycard for that floor." Cloud replied.

Soon, he was on his way to Weapon Development; keycard, requisition forms 1-3, and D all filled out, along with a general pass for office 5 and unit areas 3-7. If Cloud couldn't find what he was looking for there, he wasn't trying hard enough. He'd started avoiding the cameras now and then, without seeming to do it purposely, weeks ago. The Turk in charge of reviewing the surveillance should be used to Cloud's in and out of the footage by now, and think little of it. Hopefully. He was a __Turk__ after all.

ooOOOoo

What sometimes gave Cloud cold chills, was that he almost missed him. The day was one where the SOLDIERs all seemed to "herd up" as Freyra had called it. The Turks were back from whatever they had been doing, and the SOLDIERs got a few days off from the continual security and bodyguard duties. Cloud could have left floor sixty-three to run errands, or kept to his room, but staying up all night to work on his project had made him hungry, and so went to eat breakfast first.

Hewley's section had developed the bad habit of trying to __pat him on the head__. A few of Sephiroth's had even started trying. Genesis' had more sense than that. Possibly, because they all took turns spotting their Commander and Cloud while they trained materia. Most of Sephiroth's section hadn't sparred with Cloud, but he didn't know what Hewley's section's excuse was. There was usually only two or three together at a time, and dodging one head pat, Cloud could tolerate, if only barely. People's attempts to ruffle his hair were bad enough, he wasn't an __animal__ you __patted__. That was for chocobos and touch-mes.

So when Cloud, tired from the long night and hungry from the same, was accosted by the entire section, someone actually managed to __pat__ him before Cloud could dodge. He disentangled himself from the horde, retrieved a plate of food, and calmly returned to his room. He would need sustenance before he rectified this situation.

Little Friend had a truly awesome habitat. Cloud thought it was looking forward to this exercise, though, because when Cloud smirked at it while attaching it to the stick, he would swear the touch-me smirked back.

When Cloud stepped out of his room, staff in hand and materia equipped, he looked directly at the camera for his hallway. "Turk who is checking this, I understand taking Little Friend out of my room is breaking rule eight. However, I think that SOLDIER is getting sloppy, and needs a lesson on how underestimating someone can spell your ruin."

Cloud paused, and then decided to give the watcher some peace of mind. "I won't bash anyone on the head after they've transformed, and I won't hit Sephiroth with Little Friend at all. I suggest blocking incoming elevator traffic until this training session is over." Cloud nodded seriously at the recording device, and left, the cafeteria his primary destination.

After Cloud felt sufficiently vindicated, he realized that Luxiere had missed seeing this. That would disappoint the man, as the only thing he loved more than a good story, was being a first-hand witness, so he could be the one telling it.

On his way to the elevator, Cloud informed the camera that the training session was over, and it was safe to allow elevator traffic again. Then, he headed off to get Luxiere before all the touch-mes turned back into SOLDIERs. Cloud realized partway there that he was still carrying Little Friend, and hoped the Turks wouldn't have a conniption. He really hadn't intended to take the creature off SOLDIER's floor. So Cloud, hoping to make this quick, used a little __haste__, and ended up slamming into someone just coming out of Luxiere's office. They both fell to the floor, Little Friend perilously close to the other person's face.

"AHHH! Touch-me!" Shrieked the unfortunate soul.

Cloud scrambled away, making sure to keep his staff away from the person. He wasn't one of the Turks, or SOLDIERs, and most people didn't know what Little Friend was. But he felt more familiar than...he had black hair, and purple-blue eyes...and…Cloud's mouth stretched into the most heartfelt grin he had formed in his entire life. "Zack!"

He blinked. "Uh, yeah. I'm Zack. Zackary Fair." He finished with a smile, but it looked a little sad.

That wasn't right. Maybe they were trying to put him in Sephiroth's section. "Don't worry Zack, Hewley will still mentor you; he promised." Cloud said, reaching up to clap him on the shoulder. Zack was too tall for this to be easy. That growth spurt should happen any day now, though.

"Umm, no, I didn't get into SOLDIER." Zack replied, looking at Little Friend warily.

"Of course you did. I mean, you will. Just talk to Luxiere." He stumbled a little over the words. __Stay in the present, __Cloud told himself sternly. He grabbed Zack's sleeve and hauled him further into the office, very near the desk. "You ask __him__.

"Luxiere, this is Zackary Fair." Cloud introduced him with pride.

Luxiere was packing the contents of the few filing cabinets into boxes. "I know, kid; I was just talkin' to him."

"He's here to join SOLDIER."

Zack turned to Cloud. "I already asked, apparently they aren't taking any new recruits. They sent a notice out while I was traveling, and missed it." His shoulders sagged slightly.

Cloud turned to Luxiere, "__He's__ not too short or young, why are you sending him away? He's going to be the best SOLDIER ever!"

Zack looked surprised at this declaration. Luxiere sighed and sat down at his desk. "Due to unforeseen complications with the Science Department, the SOLDIER program is not currently accepting applicants." Luxiere said this like he was reading a script.

"I understand Mister, I was leaving, when-"

"As in Shinra isn't funding it at the moment, or the process to make a SOLDIER isn't possible anymore?" Cloud interrupted, looking at Luxiere intently.

"If it wasn't, I could hardly just tell people, Cloud." Luxiere said in frustration, flapping his hands a bit. When Cloud continued to stare, Luxiere relented, "We can still do it, but not a lot more, no new sections or anything, so the program is shut down until further notice."

"That will be fine, they can make an exception for Zack." Cloud nodded, and smiled. This was marvelous. Hojo was still being "detained", so Zack would get the enhancements, and the psycho wouldn't even be involved.

"It's alright, I __do__ understand," Zack said and turned to Cloud. "Thanks for trying to help..." He trailed off leadingly.

"You're welcome, but really, you don't need to thank me." Cloud continued to smile. What __wouldn't__ he do for Zack?

Luxiere chuckled at Zack's bemusement. "This is Cloud Strife. The frog on the stick is 'Little Friend'; don't take him up on his offer to pet it."

"That's not a frog, it's a touch-me." Zack said flatly. "I didn't think they lived anywhere but the swamp at home."

"They don't." Cloud chirped.

"Why do you have one on a stick?" Zack asked when Cloud didn't seem inclined to explain further.

Cloud eyed Zack's somewhat ragged clothing, the scratched sword, and the signs of lingering fatigue on his features. He came here on foot, like Cloud did. "So, all those monsters you ran into on the way, how did you deal with them?"

"I killed 'em with my sword. Almost didn't get away from a few." Zack said, running his hand through his hair, looking sheepish.

"What if you could have simply tapped each one with a staff like Little Friend," Here Cloud waved the stick a little, "and walked away?"

Zack stared at Cloud, then transferred his gaze to Little Friend. He moaned, and directed his question to the heavens, "Why didn't __I__think of that?"

"If it's any consolation, you might have." Cloud said, wanting to clap him on the shoulder again, but having to settle for his back. Cloud didn't remember Zack being __quite__ this tall.

"What?" Zack cocked his head to one side in question.

Cloud didn't answer that one. He had made the touch-me plan that first night in Nibelheim when he was __very__ confused, and couldn't honestly say it was entirely his own. It __was__ more like something Zack would have come up with, than Cloud.

"There's a deplorable lack of thinking outside the box in SOLDIER, you'll be good for them." Cloud smiled again at Zack.

Luxiere sighed and finally rejoined the conversation. "Deplorable? You've been spending too much time with the Commander. Also, he can't join SOLDIER, Cloud."

Cloud just shook his head at Luxiere. A promise was a promise. Now, if they hurried, Luxiere wouldn't miss out on seeing…

"You've got to come see sixty-three." Cloud directed at Luxiere, then grabbed Zack's sleeve again, and hauled him along. Why the man thought Zack wasn't going to be SOLDIER Cloud couldn't fathom.

Despite Zack's and Luxiere's protests that Zack wasn't actually allowed to be here, they stepped from the elevator to floor sixty-three. Would they still be in the...ah, there they were.

Luxiere started laughing. He laughed so hard, he wheezed, and started sliding down the wall he was using to support himself.

Zack looked like he might bolt for the elevator.

"They're all SOLDIERs, so they can't transform you, I hit them with Little Friend." Cloud said, exchanging a self-satisfied smirk with the touch-me. Other people might not believe the creature could smile, but Zack would. Cloud made sure to tilt the staff so Zack could see the touch-me's expression.

Zack shuddered at the devilish grin. "Why...did you do it?" He said, eyeing Cloud nervously.

There was no need for that. "Training exercise. Don't worry, it's over now." Cloud reassured him. "Come on, let's find Hewley."

They walked around several miserable-looking touch-mes, past the cafeteria, where several more were hopping around, and then only a few more before they reached training room one, where human voices could be heard.

Sephiroth and Hewley were discussing something, while Genesis attempted to use __transform__ on a touch-me sitting in a ring of...something powdery. They all stopped when they saw who had come in.

"__Cloud Strife__, what were you-" Genesis didn't get to finish, because Cloud interrupted.

"__This__ is Zackary Fair." He said with a triumphant look at Hewley. "I __told__ you we were friends."

Zack looked...confused. Oh, Cloud hadn't introduced him to anyone yet.

"Zack, the man with the red __jacket__ is Genesis Rhapsodos." Here Cloud smiled sincerely at Genesis. This was a good day. He even felt like smiling at Hewley.

There was a long pause, where everyone appeared hesitant to speak. Luxiere's breath was still hitching from the laughing fit, Sephiroth and Hewley stood there exchanging meaningful glances, and Zack still looked confused.

Finally, Genesis smiled charmingly, "Zack, Cloud's friend? How long have you two known each other?"

"Um, we just met in Luxiere's office, maybe fifteen minutes ago." Zack ran his fingers through his hair and turned a little red. "Cloud seemed to think I was supposed to come here to talk to a 'Hewley', but I'm pretty sure I was just supposed to leave the building."

A tension that Cloud hadn't realized was there seemed to leave the Firsts' shoulders after Zack spoke. Genesis smile became a little more sincere.

Hewley pinched the bridge of his nose. "Cloud, you __didn't__ have to go grab the first 'Zack' that came to Shinra, I'm __sorry__ if-"

He was interrupted when one of Genesis' section ran into the room with __haste__, then lurched to a stop and after an initial greeting, feigned nonchalance.

"Commander! … Um, in a purely theoretical way of course, if you cast __quake__ when the VR room was set to that materia cave we found, but then someone switched it to the Corel mountains without warning, and then someone else cast __wall__, and this is hypothetical, of course, but then you -"

"What happened?" Genesis interrupted, a warning tone in his voice.

"It's, um, theoret-"

"_**_What happened_**_?" Genesis barked.

"We got two men stuck half-way between the VR room, and your office's ceiling, sir." The SOLDIER admitted, looking miserable.

"Oh, __for the love of Gaia.__ Follow." Rhapsodos swept out of the room, Luxiere going with them, the command having been directed at him.

"Cloud you didn't..." Angeal tried to continue, but couldn't seem to find the words.

Cloud would get to him in a minute. First, he needed to deal with the first 1st class. He motioned a hand towards him. "This is Sephiroth." Cloud turned to Zack, and tugged on his shirt collar, until Zack was eye-level with Cloud. "This is __very important__, Zack. Do _**_NOT_**_ make friends with him; he's going to destroy the world."

"Actually, I think there are too many touch-mes around. I don't have time to destroy the world today." Sephiroth said, speaking more to Cloud than Fair.

"Now is __not the time__, Sephiroth, and do you really want to use __that__ as an excuse? It will just encourage him to do it again!"

Zack had straightened up, his shirt now hopelessly rumpled, and was looking at Sephiroth and Hewley with his mouth gaping open.

"And the last is Angeal Hewley, he is your mentor." Cloud gave Hewley a __look__. "He promised to be the best one ever."

"I didn't...Cloud..." Hewley sighed, then turned to Zackary Fair. "The SOLDIER program isn't open right now for new applicants."

Cloud didn't give Zack time respond, and instead raised an eyebrow at Hewley. "You __promised__, and Luxiere said they could still make a few more SOLDIERs; just pull some strings or call in some favors, and get him admitted." When Hewley just looked consternated, Cloud raised his chin. "It's not honorable to break your word, and you said yours would remain __unblemished__."

Hewley rubbed his temples and looked helplessly at Sephiroth. Sephiroth looked appraisingly at Zackary Fair, and then smirked, and said, "You __did__ give your word, Angeal."

Hewley gave Sephiroth a dirty look, but then straightened up and did his own appraising. "I realize that Cloud must have dragged you here without your consent, and I would certainly understand if you have changed your mind," He paused and looked up, then just shook his head. "But if you still wish to join SOLDIER, we'll get you in. Provided you are the __only__ Zack Cloud is friends with." He gave Cloud a warning glance.

Cloud continued to beam, and gripped Little Friend's stick tightly with both hands, to keep himself from grabbing Zack, and...well he didn't know what, but Zack was __here__, and __he was alive__. Cloud had been starting to think that he wasn't, and that's why he hadn't shown up yet.

Zackary Fair looked at Cloud Strife, the boy with the touch-me-on-a-stick, to Sephiroth-who-is-going-to-destroy-the-world, to the door where the people-are-in-the-ceiling group had left, to the touch-me on the floor, sitting in a pile of...maybe powdered elixir, to Angeal Hewley, who had promised-to-be-the-best-mentor-ever.

"__Change my mind__? Are you __kidding__ me? This is AWESOME!" Zack grinned and pumped Angeal's hand up and down, "I'm going to be the best student ever, you'll see!" He turned to Cloud, and grinned even wider at him, and carefully avoiding the touch-me, he ruffled Cloud's hair. "You are the best friend __ever__."

Cloud's chest got so tight, it became hard to breathe. He wondered if it was the start of an episode, and tried to breathe evenly. He really wasn't good at being a friend at all, but this time, Zack was __alive__, and Cloud would figure out how to become one.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

If Cloud's usual routine had been a finely-tuned motorcycle, then now it looked like it had crashed head-on with a cargo truck, and been run off the Midgar cliffs. Mostly, because he just couldn't stay away from Zack. Cloud kept himself functioning by predictability. If he always did "b" after doing "a" then it wouldn't matter if he had a bad day or an episode; chances were he'd continue his routine, by rote if nothing else. Zack __thrived__ on spontaneity. If he had eaten in the SOLDIER cafeteria yesterday, he might decide to go to the lunchroom on floor fifty the next day. Or eat on floor sixty-three for a week, then decide that they should abstain from all sustenance until they had located the fabled "Turk cafeteria" that even the Five Secretaries couldn't prove the existence of.

Apparently, even walking down the hallway could become too routine for Zackary, and so now they were attempting to get to training room three using a combination of __wall__ and __ice__ and jumping from block to block midair, before they lost control of the spell. Zack was cackling like a maniac, but Cloud was concentrating too hard on forming Barrier's abilities around the chunks of ice to join in. That didn't mean he wasn't having fun.

Genesis and Luxiere caught them at it, and if it had been Hewley, there would have been a lecture and a lot of clean up to do. As it was, they __were__ stopped, so Genesis could inquire minutely into how they had done it; then the whole group moved to the VR room to try it in a staircase formation. After deciding they would need a mastered Elemental linked to a Fire, before they tried the blocks with __fire__ instead of __ice__, Luxiere stopped gripping his Revive quite so convulsively.

"Well, kid, it looks like you found a friend as crazy as you are." He said shakily.

If it was anyone but Luxiere, Cloud would have taken insult, but the SOLDIER didn't have mean bone in his body, and wouldn't have meant to offend.

"Zack isn't crazy." Cloud told him firmly.

This is of course, made Luxiere chuckle, and Genesis and Zack joined in, when it became clear Cloud wasn't upset.

"You're not crazy either, Cloud." Zack said, ruffling Cloud's hair, and grinning.

It was nice Zack thought so, but Cloud knew differently. He was just now managing to talk coherently again. Soon after Zack had arrived, and Cloud had started to form his days around following Zack like a lost chocobo chick, the episodes had gotten __bad__.

Usually, the __memories__ Cloud had from Zack only popped up during particularly stressful situations. Cloud would freely admit, he often pulled on his friend's personality to accomplish things. Cloud could do deliveries all day, if he didn't have to interact with anyone to do it. There was a reason his delivery service had been a cross-country affair involving little contact with people. But all the errands for those secretaries, the times he had to haggle with a merchant, sometimes even talking to Freyra, Cloud would find himself making use of the part of him that knew how Zack responded to situations.

Zack was good with people, he __liked__ talking to them, and had no trouble understanding them whatsoever. Whenever Cloud would try to get through a conversation on his own, without double-checking with Zack's innate skills, Cloud would end up with people looking at him like he was nuts. Freyra was still giving him odd looks whenever Mideel came up.

If Cloud didn't think about Sephiroth, __time was running out now__, then there wasn't anything stressful about Zack being here, because __he was alive__, and seemed to __enjoy__ Cloud tagging along to whatever he was doing. So, why the episodes flared up was a mystery to Cloud, but just like all those evenings in the Firsts' office, they got worse, before they got better. During the worst of it, Cloud quit talking at all, and stayed mute until it was over.. He still wasn't sure what happened in that interview, and then Cloud had told Hewley's section about Zack before he came to Shinra, and Cloud didn't want to know what would slip out this time.

Now the episodes had stopped, and that odd shifting in his head was over, and Cloud was still trying to adjust. Because Zack's memories were still there, just like memories of Sephiroth were, but they stayed distant and only came up if Cloud __pulled__. Like they happened a long time ago, and didn't belong to Cloud. Which would have been fine, if Zack's people skills had remained, but they were even more distant. So Cloud was...probably more like his own self than he had been since before Hojo. It was blessed relief to have a quieter mind, but a lot harder to function in social situations. Still, with Zack around chattering to everybody, Cloud could mostly just smile and fade into the background. He smiled a lot these days.

__Shilly-shally, dilly-dally__, whispered Tifa. Cloud sighed. The project had sort of gone on hold. Which wasn't wise, because Zack was here now, and the SOLDIERs spoke grimly about Wutai like it would happen __soon__, and that meant that Nibelheim loomed closer. So Cloud burned the midnight oil to put in the necessary work on the plan, so he could spend the rest of the time with Zack. When Cloud got used to his friend being alive, maybe he'd try to stop acting like a chocobo chick. Cloud __knew__ he was, because he had raised the birds; there had been a little black one whose parents hadn't taken care of it, and Cloud had taken over. That bird had followed him __everywhere__, kweh-ing about this and that, and Cid had thought it was hilarious. Cloud supposed it must have been funny to see him crawling underneath machines and motorcycles and vehicles with an ever-growing black chocobo perched nearby, peering at what he was tinkering with.

ooOOOoo

The only problem with hanging out with Zack; he really did like __everybody__. Spending so much time with Hewley was expected, he was mentoring Zack, after all. What Cloud hadn't realized up to now, was how much time the three Firsts spent with each other. They spent some of their work day, and nearly all their free time together, in varying combinations. Hewley, Cloud could tolerate, and Genesis he liked, but...Sephiroth.

The man was __normal__. There was nothing about him that shrieked __madman__, so it was little wonder no one believed Cloud when he warned them. Sephiroth was quiet, and orderly, and had a __sense of humor__. He didn't really joke, but when someone said something funny, he laughed. Especially at Zack. Maybe that was just Zack, though; __Cloud__ hadn't felt the urge to laugh much before he showed up.

Zack would chatter away to them all, and Cloud would watch and worry, because Zack being friends with Sephiroth was a __bad idea__. Zack would laugh at his dire warnings, and nag at Cloud to call Hewley by his first name, and trick Cloud into speaking directly to Sephiroth. Cloud usually caught on, but there were times he found himself talking about things with the man. Sephiroth was exceptionally good at drawing details out of Cloud. He hadn't told __Zack__ that he liked chocobos, or working on motorcycles, and Cloud still wasn't sure how that man had managed to pry it out of him. Also, the __pleasantries__ were apparently a tradition Cloud wasn't allowed to skip even now, and he received no ally in Zack, who thought it was hysterically funny. __If only he knew…__

There were also days Cloud simply couldn't stand being around so many people, and would sequester himself in his room. By evening, when Zack would drag him off to see the Firsts, he would usually be able to handle things again, but sometimes…

Zack ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I guess I'm just not getting that part, Cloud. How __does__ someone destroy the world anyway? All by themselves, even."

"I have wondered that myself, Zackary Fair." Sephiroth replied quietly.

_**_Meteor_**_. __The worlds exploding, The Planet withering__. Cloud sucked in a breath, and hissed out, "If you __don't know already__, then I'm hardly going to give you __ideas__."

Yes, some evenings it was better if Cloud just stayed in his room, and worked on the project.

ooOOOoo

It was done. It was delivered. It was a failure. And Cloud couldn't let on about any of it. He couldn't hide in his room, or avoid Sephiroth, or bolt out of Shinra Tower. Because this time Cloud had tried for the "I didn't have anything to do with it" angle. He was really starting to regret that, because while his escape attempts had failed __worse__ than his attempts to kill Sephiroth, at least before he didn't just sit here in the __same room as the man__. They were in the cafeteria, and Sephiroth had stopped to tell Zack something. Zack chattered happily away, while Cloud's hands shook so badly, he could hardly keep his grip on his fork.

"I really need to be going Zackary; be sure to tell Angeal about the schedule change." He nodded to Zack, then turned to address Cloud. "I have to handle a situation with Weapon Development. It will be such a headache, I won't feel up to destroying the world afterwards." He stared at Cloud for just a moment too long, then turned and walked away, without waiting for the reply anyone near Cloud __required__ him to respond with before life could move on.

Cloud gave up on trying to look innocent and went to his room. Sephiroth __knew__. It wasn't paranoia, Cloud could __tell__, the way he knew which chocobo would win a race, the way he knew what sword to use for which monster, the man __knew__.

The Turks hadn't come to take him away, but Cloud thought that running for the exit would still be an effort in futility. So he waited. All day, all night, the next morning, and then Zack dragged him off to eat lunch, and __no one came to take him away__.

The SOLDIERs were forever training against Scarlet's robots and turrets. The better fighter you were the more you took on, and there was a bet going on how many someone could take out in one session. Also, the men sometimes tested out equipment WepDev had planned to give the army. SOLDIERs mostly provided their own armor, but Public Safety supplied the army from Scarlet's department. Cloud hadn't been sure why SOLDIER was testing it, but it worked out for the plan, so…

He had collected and tinkered with seven of her automated drone robots, and an experimental materia bracer. This was a lot more like the kind of stuff Cid had taught him, Cloud had thought. He rewired, and rearranged, and readjusted, then fiddled with the bracer. That was a complicated bit of work, but it turned out just like he intended. Then, Cloud had taken it all, piece by piece from where it was hidden, and returned it to WepDev's floor.

Sephiroth wasn't allowed to be part of the bet, he was simply too good at destroying whatever Scarlet sent after him. He was skilled enough at it, that the woman had started setting aside machines and equipment __especially for him__ to test. Cloud thought they might have some bizarre contest going on, themselves, and it had been perfect.

The other plans had seemed to be too; this one had worked out just as well. Two tank-like machines, ten turrets, and fifteen drone robots. The seven Cloud had messed with were hidden among those. To wrap it all up neatly, as if with a ribbon, was the faulty materia bracer. Which was the __only weapon__ Sephiroth was supposed to use to test it all out.

Listening to Luxiere gossip about what had happened informed Cloud of a number of things.

The Turks had investigated an explosion that had taken out most of the VR room. AVALANCHE had not been responsible for it; they had concluded it was the result of a "gross miscalculation" on Weapon Development's part, and "detained" Scarlet. __Explosion? They weren't supposed to…__

Apparently, several of the drones had switched into a highly aggressive mode that Scarlet was claiming not to have invented. If the rest of her creations hadn't all "malfunctioned" in such a way as to box Sephiroth in, while the aggressive ones went into murder mode, it might not have been such a dangerous situation. __So why didn't it kill him?__

Sephiroth would have _**_died_**_ if it hadn't been for the also-malfunctioning materia bracer. That was his only weapon and defense, and when he charged a __barrier__, it overheated, short-circuited, and fused with the All he had equipped in another slot, which was linked to a mastered Fire. He gave a mighty leap, threw the bracer at the horde of killer machines, and they all melted and exploded in a __wall of flames. __Sephiroth was shielded from the blast by the mastered Barrier Genesis had given him. The VR room wasn't so fortunate. __That...WASN'T supposed to happen that way.__

Cloud dropped his head to the table and groaned. Overkill, that's what had done it. Without that bracer, __it__ __would have worked__.

"Hey, are you okay Cloud?" Luxiere abandoned his rapturous telling of the story, to look worriedly at the moaning boy.

"I overdid it." Cloud said, pathetically.

"Well, haven't we been __telling__ you to take it easier? Freyra's going to have a heart attack one of these days, when she realizes the kind of injuries you're getting, and never get treated in the infirmary. You aren't hurt are you?" Luxiere babbled in response.

"No… What's...happening with Scarlet?" Cloud hadn't meant to frame her specifically, he just wanted the Turks to think an unknown had snuck into the department, and back out again.

"Well, she's been cleared of any __purposeful__ actions over the VR room incident, but now they're investigating her entire department, because they found evidence she embezzled over __three million__ gil while building the Junon canon." Luxiere sounded downright gleeful, sharing this juicy tidbit.

Cloud...really hadn't seen that coming. Was __every__ department head corrupt? Maybe not Reeve, but seriously, everyone else? How did Shinra keep running?

"They promised to get the VR room fixed as soon as they recover the money." Luxiere paused, and __begged__ Cloud, "Could you __please__talk Genesis into, y'know, __not__ trying to recreate that bracer trick? I __hate__ having to use Revive on you guys."

ooOOOoo

There were no repercussions from anyone, except maybe Sephiroth. The man definitely __knew__, but this wasn't the kind of reaction Cloud had expected. It wasn't as continual as him following Zack around, Sephiroth had to "go to work" most days, and Cloud didn't. He would swear though, that every moment off Sephiroth had, he spent near Cloud.

In the evenings, Hewley would show Zack some super-cool sword trick. Cloud would wish he'd just hit that growth spurt already, so he could __lift__ the sword and try it as well. Genesis would sit and read, or dramatically recite something. Sephiroth would focus __all his attention__ on Cloud. He knew the others were in on that part, at least, because they __helped__ him.

Cloud would be watching the sword-training, and Hewley would mention something about a lighter blade, and before Cloud knew how they'd managed it, Sephiroth would be showing him a different move with a light sword Cloud could actually swing.

Genesis would read something aloud about an incident involving monsters, ask Cloud a question, and Cloud would be discussing materia theory with Genesis one moment, and somehow in the next, he'd be explaining how to apply it in fact, with Sephiroth.

Zack was still up to his earlier trick of getting Cloud to talk about random stuff, and then slip the conversation over to Sephiroth. Either Zack was getting better at it, or Cloud was getting worse, because it succeeded with alarming frequency.

It was unnerving in more ways than one. __No one__ had ever focused so intently on him. Cloud wasn't sure he would have known what to do with the attention if it had been Zack, but this was Sephiroth, and it was just that much stranger. Cloud tried telling himself it was because of all of his attempts to kill the man. Keep your enemies closer, and all that. But something about that was wrong. Cloud frequently misconstrued conversations, or social situations, but he __could__ tell when he was missing something, and this was one of those times. __Zack__ would know, but there wasn't enough left of the imprint within Cloud's mind to explain it, and he couldn't ask the __alive__ one, because Zack didn't know the whole story.

It seemed like everyone wanted him to get to know Sephiroth, and Cloud was, without true willingness on his part; but they didn't__understand.__ It didn't matter what Sephiroth was like, __he was going to destroy the world.__

ooOOOoo

SOLDIER was primed and ready, the Turks were just a little too tense to pull off neutral, and everyone knew that when the President returned from the latest "negotiation", war would finally be declared on Wutai. But the ship carrying the President, those accompanying him, and the ship's crew never arrived in Junon. Halfway between Costa Del Sol and its destination, it blew up in a spectacular display; the most explosive AVALANCHE had ever managed to date.

When Reeve Tuesti walked into a windowless office on a mid-level floor for a "meeting regarding Public Safety's dispersal of funding", six other men were already there.

"I've never been to one of these meetings before." He remarked mildly.

"In person." Rufus Shinra gave him a knowing look.

Tuesti smiled faintly and inquired, "Is there a reason beyond tradition we aren't on floor sixty-six?"

"The Meeting Room is well known, surrounded by windows, and a security __nightmare__." Tseng said tightly.

The room settled into grim silence. Rufus stood and rested his hands on the edge of the table. "Gentleman, this company was initially created for the purpose of making money by selling electricity. Power hungry war mongers have drawn us to the edge of a precipice, and I have been pulling Shinra back from the brink for years." He paused, and no one asked him to clarify whether he meant the company, or the recently deceased President.

"We are returning to our __original __purpose, and while the last two years and this latest bombing has brought the company to an all-time low, we __will__ emerge triumphant.

"There will be no more building of armies, there are going to be well-maintained roads, so we can __deliver__ that which we sell. We are no longer spending __millions of gil__ on giant canons or malfunctioning robots, we are making weapons for general defense and __selling them__. We are no longer allowing mad scientists free reign, we are researching illnesses, and making medicines, and __selling the cures__.

"Before we do this, however, we are going to address the issue of Wutai and AVALANCHE. Tseng."

The Director of the Turks handed out reports to each man present. "That is a map of all the locations AVALANCHE had a laboratory, research facility, house, bolthole, vehicle, or favorite restaurant. With SOLDIER taking over our usual duties," Tseng nodded briefly to Lazard and the three Firsts, "the Department of Administrative Research was able to investigate AVALANCHE __thoroughly__. The violence of their attacks escalated with the removal of these, and they started to retreat to what we believe is their home base, as it were. It is in Wutai."

Lazard broke the stunned silence by asking, "How is disbanding the army a good idea then, Rufus?"

Rufus was pacing, and didn't acknowledge the question.

Tseng pushed another report forward. "We also discovered that AVALANCHE is only receiving support from a group of Wutaien fanatics who are wanted by their own government. They are terrorists on all sides."

Rufus spun around and faced the group. He spoke as though telling a children's story. "Several years ago, Shinra approached their neighbor Wutai, and offered to sell them electricity. They said our ways were unacceptable to them, and didn't want to trade, or buy and sell with such people.

When a group calling themselves AVALANCHE started threatening and bombing the company, Shinra knew who to blame. That is why the negotiations with Wutai have been so...hostile." By the end, Rufus tone was less like a story, and started to become more calculating. "When Shinra realized it wasn't __all__ the people of Wutai who hated them, but only a few dangerous criminals, we immediately sought to rectify the situation."

Rufus paused and focused intently those present. "AVALANCHE has destroyed several of our facilities, killed some of our best researchers, and its latest work resulted in the death of the former President, Heideggar, and counting Veld, four of __my Turks__. You are going to __end__ them." Rufus breathed hard, then gathered himself and continued.

"__Only__ non-Wutaien members of AVALANCHE. Up til now, SOLDIER and the Turks have worked parallel, now you are going to __cooperate__. They have the locations, the complete list of everyone involved, and are familiar by now with the various traps and bombs the terrorists favor.

Rufus directed his attention to the SOLDIERs. "When you destroy AVALANCHE's facility, leave __every__ Wutaien alive. Truss them up, undamaged, and take them to Wutai's capital.

"Sephiroth, now is when SOLDIER proves this extra training has been worth it. You'll have to travel from one end of the country to the other. Do it __fast__. Injure __no one__. Receive __no injuries__ yourselves. You are going to arrive in Godo's Palace having harmed __not one__ Wutaien hair, and deliver __their__ members of AVALANCHE to the Emperor himself.

"Rhapsodos, __make an entrance__. Write a script if you have to, and memorize it. SOLDIER is going to swan their way into that palace, and no one is going to be left in doubt that the only reason they haven't been __ground into dust__, is because SOLDIER didn't feel like doing it." Here Rufus cleared his throat, "And, of course, because Shinra wouldn't do that sort of thing." He turned to Angeal Hewley.

"Hewley, you have the most important part, success or failure will depend entirely on you. You are going to convince Godo that all of what I have said is true. __It is__," Rufus insisted, when Hewley began to frown. "We do __not__ want to war with Wutai. We just discovered that AVALANCHE was allied with Wutaien __criminals__. Are you going to claim SOLDIER __couldn't__ crush them under your heel?" Rufus smirked and waited. After several minutes to ponder the matter, Hewley nodded, once.

"Good. When you are done talking to Godo, I want them under no doubt that we want __peace__, that we have __no intention__ of harming anyone in their country, leave them with the impression that this was all __AVALANCHE's__ fault. Except..." Rufus trailed off, and smiled at those gathered. It was a terrible smile.

"It really wasn't, was it? If Wutai had nipped their own criminal activity in the bud, AVALANCHE would never have gained a foothold. We would have been able to root it out entirely, before now. The President would be alive. __Invaluable__ members of this company would still be alive." Here, Rufus' mouth became a thin, straight line.

"Angeal Hewley, you make them __weep__ for this dereliction of duty. I want them to __writhe in shame__ for their lack of honor. We could have been __good neighbors__ all this time, look what __they__ have allowed to come to pass. We are owed __remuneration.__

Rufus Shinra sat down again, folded his hands, and smiled beatifically. His eyes gleamed. "When the Turks and SOLDIER return home, we won't have war looming on the horizon. We won't have a hostile border to watch. We will have...__indebted customers__."

ooOOOoo

Things on floor sixty-three had gotten very still, then very busy. Cloud was told, "You're wanted in the Firsts' office." By a SOLDIER who had rushed up to him, then rushed away. Everyone was packing things, organizing armor, and passing messages while moving at full speed and employing fancy footwork to keep from crashing into walls or people.

When Cloud arrived, only Sephiroth was present. He was filling out what Cloud recognized as requisition forms.

"If you write 665UX at the top in blue ink, they'll send it straight through." Cloud offered. If the rest of SOLDIER was any indication, something big was happening, and those forms could take a while to process.

Sephiroth smiled, and proceeded to do so. "Thank you, Cloud. Come sit down, I need to talk to you."

After Cloud had settled into his usual chair, Sephiroth pulled his own closer, and sat down nearby.

"All of SOLDIER is leaving for Wutai within the next twenty-four hours. Most of the Turks are going as well. We'll be gone for about a month, give or take a week."

Cloud knew the war was close, so it wasn't a total surprise, but, "You mean years. The war is going to last for years."

"No, we're not going to war, after all. There is going to be one...skirmish, then a march, then a diplomatic negotiation, then SOLDIER is coming home. The Turks may end up staying a little longer, but we won't be gone much longer than a month."

"You mean, SOLDIER will fight for a month, then come back here, then go back to Wutai in sections. Because the war is going to take longer than a month." Cloud didn't remember most of that portion of time, but he knew for a fact the war had lasted __years__.

"There isn't going to be a war at all, Cloud." Sephiroth said patiently. "We're going to settle a __situation__ involving terrorists, then come back to Shinra."

Maybe this was how it started last time, and then escalated to war. Cloud nodded. That was probably it. He was going to miss Zack, but they wouldn't be deployed all the time. "You'll get leave occasionally, to rest up in between, right?"

Sephiroth sighed a little, "We'll be back in a month, Cloud. But Zack and Freyra, and all the rest of us will be gone, and I want you to do something while we are."

It wasn't a question, and Cloud wasn't going to agree until he knew what the man wanted. He narrowed his eyes and gave Sephiroth a suspicious look.

"Why haven't you poisoned me?" Sephiroth asked, with peculiar tilt to his expression.

__What?__ "Why would I poison you?" Cloud asked in bewilderment.

Sephiroth __laughed__. Then he sobered, and asked seriously, "Cloud, you've tried to 'kill me' several times now, why haven't you tried poison?"

Cloud really didn't know what kind of question that was. What did Sephiroth think Cloud was trying to…

Sephiroth nudged him in the arm. "Explain out loud." When Cloud just __looked__ at him, the man raised an eyebrow, and waited.

__Why not?__ "There isn't a poison that could take you down fast enough. Everyone carries healing natured materia these days, and the infirmary is close by. Even the most deadly would just make you really sick. You'd get better."

"But I would suffer terribly, first."

"I'm not trying to make you suffer, you just need to..." Cloud trailed off. Even __he__ could tell this was a bizarre conversation. Cloud eyed the door. He should really get going. Sephiroth was a busy man.

"Die, because I'm going to destroy the world?" Sephiroth finished calmly.

Well, yes. Cloud nodded slowly.

"What if I wasn't?" Sephiroth asked, in the same tone you asked what the weather was doing.

"What if you weren't what?" Cloud asked warily.

"I'm not going to destroy the world. Ah." Sephiroth stopped Cloud's interruption. "__If__ I wasn't, would you still need to kill me?"

No. But that wasn't going to happen. It __was__ going to, that is. The world, and __Meteor__, and Cloud shook his head. __No__, but Sephiroth __would__, and so…

"It's going to be pretty quiet around here while we're gone, and I want you to do some things." Sephiroth handed Cloud a list.

Cloud read it with bemusement. "Freyra and Luxiere are going to be gone, so they wrote out their nagging on paper?"

Sephiroth huffed a laugh under his breath. "Oh, Cloud. You noticed when Zack had used up too much manna, and needed a Mega Elixer. You could tell when Genesis hadn't been sleeping for several days. Have you looked in a mirror?"

And people thought Cloud was full of non sequiturs. Also, mirrors were something Cloud was careful to avoid.

"You might look in the mirror as if you were looking at someone else."

__That__ __was the problem__. Cloud hadn't tried it since the episodes had petered off, though. He might, if Sephiroth had a good reason. "Why?"

"Because you look terrible." Sephiroth said flatly. "Follow the 'nagging list' while we're gone Cloud." Sephiroth looked at him sternly. "One other thing. I want you to think, __seriously think__, about why you say I'm going to destroy the world. You have never given us a good explanation. Try to figure out why." Here Sephiroth raised his brow, and __that__ was a question, though unspoken.

Cloud nodded, and then quickly made his way back to his room. It was jarring, that he had __conversations__ with Sephiroth these days. After a fair amount of time to churn it all over, Cloud wondered. He didn't have one in his room, but he knew where most of the mirrors in Shinra Tower were, by now.

Cloud...didn't look __terrible,__ exactly. He looked way better than he did, back when Hojo...maybe they all had a point. Cloud looked at the list, then back to the mirror. So, he didn't sleep very much, or eat right, or rest or relax. He didn't have __time__ to relax, he had to kill Sephiroth. Cloud resolutely did not think about what the last few months had been like. It didn't matter, __Sephiroth was going to destroy the world. __Cloud had to remind himself of that a lot, lately. Still, they had a point. Cloud looked at the list again. Wutai would take a long time, and it all happened after that. Cloud was __tired__. Sephiroth wouldn't be accessible for most of the war's duration. Maybe Cloud could rest, just for awhile. He re-read the list.

The next day, he said goodbye to Zack, who assured Cloud he wouldn't be gone that long. Cloud agreed sadly; no point in arguing. Then Sephiroth swept through the ranks to lead SOLDIER away. He was wearing that leather trench coat, finally. Cloud didn't panic, because he could almost hear Genesis' disdaining __dusters; closer to dresses__. So there was no double-vision, but...__time was running out.__ So much for resting. He walked slowly back to deserted sixty-three, and started to plan.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

They really were back in a month. Specifically, thirty-five days. There was a story behind the last four days, apparently, but Luxiere hadn't gotten around to telling that one yet. He was too busy repeating this one. Again.

"And then, I put everything I had into my Revive. Which, y'know, I had linked to an-"

"All." The rest of the cafeteria said in unison. Cloud suspected he hadn't been Luxiere's only audience for this one.

"Who's tellin' this story, anyway? So, that worked, but it kind of worked on __everything__. Even that mutated behemoth, so-"

It had taken an embarrassingly long time for Cloud to comprehend there wasn't going to be a war. At first, it was utter chaos, with all the SOLDIERs back. They had a lot of crazy stories to tell, especially Luxiere. They were trying out new moves they'd learned, and new ideas for materia. Honestly, it was like taking all the noise and excitement from the returning sections' patrol and ramping it up with about ten Hypers. Because everything in Wutai had been __new__, and SOLDIER spent all their time coming up with new ways to fight killer monsters, it would seem.

"So Luxiere took that bazooka that the AVALANCHE guy dropped, and aimed it at-"

"Who's tellin' this story anyway? So, after the behemoth was encased in __ice__, I picked up this bazooka-"

After Cloud had asked Zack for the third time when they would be deployed again, Sephiroth had taken him aside to a __quiet__ room, and explained that there wasn't a war. The Turks were staying behind to tie up loose ends, and SOLDIER was doing the Turk's job until they came back. This had been a mission, like killing monsters near towns was a mission, it was over and __there was no war__.

Cloud was often confused, but he wasn't stupid. This was just so __different__ than before, he couldn't comprehend it. A lot of people and situations hadn't turned out like he'd expected, but he mostly chalked that up to not remembering. This though, he had been sure of. He was still unsure of his age, but he wasn't __that__ young. There wasn't __time__ for there to be a long war, before…

"So after the lab room blew sky high, Luxiere-"

"__Who's tellin' this story, anyway?"__

ooOOOoo

They all had escaped completely unscathed. They were incredibly proud of not having a scratch on any of them. Except for Angeal Hewley. He had gotten a nasty gash on his arm, when he had guarded Zack from an incoming projectile. The other SOLDIERs had a lot of fun ribbing the man about ruining their perfect record. They weren't __too__ hard on him, he was their superior officer after all, and he had been defending __Zack__. If Cloud was some kind of strange mascot who could beat them up, then Zack was the utterly beloved rookie. Zack had spent a lot of time complaining they hadn't let __him__ do anything dangerous, whenever Luxiere got started on another story.

Slowly, the Turks trickled back to Shinra Tower. Cloud had taken to spending a bit more time around the secretaries again. They talked more than the SOLDIERs, but it was less frenetic. They also had the low-down on what was happening around the company. Shinra breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Department of Administrative Research once more became capable of doing their job. Only a Turk knew __everything__ they were responsible for. But one thing everyone knew, was when things got mixed up or short-handed, Turks picked up the slack.

As it was, Genesis was doing Lazard's job, while he did what used to be Scarlet's. Tuesti was doing Heideggar's job, and Cloud wasn't sure who was running Urban Development at the moment. Sephiroth was liaising between SOLDIER and Genesis. According to the frazzled First, Lazard could take his job back anytime; no one __in__ SOLDIER wanted to be the Director.

Until the company recovered from losing so many Directors, it would be a little mixed up around the place, was the general consensus. Still, with the Turks back, some semblance of normalcy returned to floor sixty-three. The SOLDIERs would be able to take a vacation, finally, in shifts. They had been battle-ready for the better part of two years, and it was showing. They were in high spirits, but worn out in a way that had little to do with physical exhaustion.

Men from all three sections started to drift off; going home, playing tourist, whatever they did in their spare time; Cloud wouldn't know. The Firsts stayed, and so did Zack. With the floor quieter, Cloud took up his previous occupation of following Zack around.

"Hey Cloud, you coming to visit Angeal with me?" Zack smiled at him, but there was a strained look to it.

__Visit__ Angeal? Cloud nodded. That was a weird way to talk about training, but...when they got to the Firsts' office, Angeal was there, slowly working on the paperwork neither Sephiroth or Genesis had time for these days. His arm was wrapped up, and in a sling around his neck.

"Angeal!" Zack exclaimed, and proceeded to glomp the man. For all that it was exuberant, no part of the man's injured side was even slightly jostled in the process.

"Zackary." Angeal smiled. "What are you two up to, today?"

Cloud watched as Zack chattered away, seemingly as carefree as ever, and Angeal listened and ignored the paperwork. Their mouths were smiling, but their eyes were strained. Zack was worried, and Angeal...didn't feel well.

SOLDIERs didn't get sick, unless Hojo was around. Cloud eyed the bandaged arm, but Zack and Angeal didn't bring it up, and so neither did Cloud.

ooOOOoo

The SOLDIERs had all come back, and the Firsts worked out a schedule which Genesis called "The first test of the __actual intent__ of the program." Cloud thought it was a little long-winded, but was probably missing some history there, so forgave him the lame title. The SOLDIERs would now go off in groups of two to five, depending on the threat level, and clear out monsters around towns and along the roads.

Wait. "The SOLDIER program was made as a...monster deterrent?" Cloud asked, disbelieving.

"So __we were told__ when we joined. Rufus Shinra has promised that's what we'll remain. I have found some truly horrifying plans that the old President and Hojo had, and let me tell you-"

"Genesis." Angeal interrupted the rant. "Not in front of the children."

This, of course, set off a series of complaints from Cloud __and__ Zack, and then Genesis joined in. Later, Cloud realized, they had never gotten back to the "horrifying plans". Angeal __could__ be rather sneaky, when he wanted. Too bad Cloud could already guess what some of them were. Or would have turned out to be. He was incredibly unclear on what was going to happen next. There had been no war, and now there was no Hojo in the picture. Did that mean there wouldn't be a Nibelheim incident? Did that mean Cloud could stop, or would he have to spend the rest of his life trying and failing to kill Sephiroth? That last thought made him feel rather ill. Cloud reminded himself that once he could manage a sword fight, he would actually succeed. For some reason, this didn't bring him any comfort.

Zack didn't train __with__ Angeal anymore. At first, the man had watched and instructed, while Zack tried to do as told. Then, Angeal would just talk quietly about things while Zack sat and listened. Then one day, Angeal Hewley collapsed while walking slowly from one room to another.

Cloud wouldn't have done it for anyone else, but Zack was __upset__, so Cloud went with him to the infirmary. The one attached to the Science Department, made especially for SOLDIER. Angeal was laying back against a lot of pillows, sleeping. He didn't look like he had Stigma, but that was really the only positive thing Cloud could think of. Zack sat by the man and held his hand, and __didn't__ __say anything at all__.

There was a woman, white lab coat, with glasses. "I'm going through the files as quickly as I can, but this morass Hojo left me with is-"

"We understand, and you've really done an excellent job, all things considered, but is there anything else you can do, besides look for more of the research?" Genesis was trying to sound diplomatic, but sounded just a little too strained to pull it off.

"I'm sorry, there's really not. I managed to stabilize him; he won't get any worse for weeks, maybe as long as a couple months. We have some time to figure it out." The woman said attempting to sound encouraging.

"If helping with the 'morass' Hojo left behind will free more of your time, tell us what we can do to help." Sephiroth spoke quietly, urgency in his tone.

Zack continued to not say anything, and Cloud wasn't sure what to do to help. He wouldn't be able to look through the research like the others, and being in this room, with the machines and the mako tubes, and the doctors was making Cloud dizzy, his hands were already starting to feel strange. But it was __more __unnatural for Zack to be so silent, so while the others did something useful, Cloud stayed by his side and tried to breathe very evenly. If their positions were reversed, Zack would probably find something pleasant to talk about, but Cloud had a hard time with that on a good day. This...was not turning out to be a good day. Cloud moved a little closer, and Zack smiled weakly, and reached out and ruffled Cloud's hair with his free hand.

"You're a good friend, Cloud." He said quietly.

Well. Maybe it was useful after all. Cloud breathed very evenly, and stayed in the infirmary.

ooOOOoo

Zack burst into Cloud's room without knocking. Cloud double-checked the placement of his bed cover. He'd put off working on the sniper rifle when Angeal got sick. It was still under the bed, partially assembled. He was only lacking a few pieces, but he could finish up later. Sephiroth was helping find a cure, and Cloud wasn't going to delay that. That was the only reason. Cloud could finish it any time.

"I got permission for you to go too!" Zack said excitedly, waving a paper triumphantly in the air.

Zack hadn't sounded that like __that__ for a long time. Cloud grabbed the paper and inspected it. It was a standard leave paper, Aeghel's office. Cloud wasn't actually supposed to go anywhere without...oh. There were the numbers and stamp marks.

"You got this from Livea, didn't you?" Cloud asked, dryly.

Zack looked mischievous. "Maybe."

Cloud filled up Little Friend's food and water dishes, and grabbed his rucksack. "Let's mosey." Cloud smiled at Zack's amusement at the phrase. He didn't know where they were going, but anything that put Zack in a lighter humor these days was worth it.

It wasn't worth it. Zack hadn't chattered since Angeal got sick, so information took longer to get. Cloud learned that Sephiroth, Genesis, and the doctor had decided that the last key they needed to finish a cure was some research Hojo's records claimed was left in an obscure location. They had all figured out where the "obscure location" was, and were going there now. Cloud wasn't sure why Zack had wanted him to go along. Or why the two Firsts were allowing it. They all acted like he was a kid, and Hojo's labs weren't a safe place for __them__, let alone a "kid". Before Cloud could question, or just try to figure out why, all his concentration was set on __not being sick__. Zack had failed to mention they were going by helicopter.

Ah, no one had been aware of the motion sickness. They said something about __another__ helicopter after this one, and several __hours__, and about when Cloud started to wonder if jumping out was a viable option, Genesis had mercy, and cast __sleep__ on him.

ooOOOoo

Cloud came to, a little groggy, but not much. It had been a low-level spell, just enough to knock him out for the travel. That answered the old question; should have tried that __years__ ago. Now for the next question, where were they?

Sephiroth, Genesis, and Zack all stood nearby, waiting for him to get his bearings. Cloud looked around, cold mountain region, old derelict house...no...Cloud looked frantically up and to the...there was Nibel peak. He looked back to the house. The old Shinra mansion. __No__.

"We're...in Nibelheim." Cloud stated, voice shaking.

"Yeah, we have to go check some stuff in this old house, but I thought since we were coming to your hometown, you'd like to visit your mom." Zack smiled at Cloud, pleased with his idea.

"__No__." Cloud shook his head.

"Oh…um, it's just things have been so...__I__ miss my mom, so I thought..." Zack trailed off, looking at Cloud in confusion.

Cloud was still shaking his head. "We shouldn't be here."

"This is where the records we're looking for are, Cloud." Genesis said calmly. He continued with a faint smile. "We even filled out all the appropriate paperwork, first."

They still didn't understand. "NO, __Sephiroth can't be here__, he's going to destroy-"

"I was hoping that wouldn't start up again." Sephiroth said quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Cloud. Why is it Sephiroth can't be __here__, exactly?" Genesis asked, "__What__ is he going to destroy?"

__Nibelheim__, and __Meteor__, and...everything. __Jenova was just ___**_waiting_**___for someone who could hear her__… "You can't hear her voice?" Cloud demanded of Sephiroth.

They all held very still, and stared at Cloud. Genesis asked, sounding strained, "Do __you__ hear someone, Cloud?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes, and looked Sephiroth over carefully. __Cloud__ couldn't hear Jenova at the moment, maybe Sephiroth couldn't yet, either. Maybe they'd need to be farther up the mountain. "I won't hear her, if Sephiroth doesn't."

"I know," Genesis said brightly, "How about Zack and Sephiroth go look for those papers, and I'll go with you to visit your mother?"

"No. I have to stay near Sephiroth." Cloud wasn't letting the man out of his sight.

"Alright," Sephiroth said slowly. "Genesis will help Zackary, and __we'll__ go visit your mother."

"__Stay away from my mother.__" Cloud hissed at him. Absolutely not. First the town, then his mother, then the reactor...__NO__.

They stood there, a four way staring contest, which was finally broken when Zack said nervously, "Guys, we really need to get looking, if this isn't where the research was left..."

"Then we have to start all over." Genesis sighed. "Cloud, if you stay-"

"I'm coming with you."

There was a jumble of words, as all three of them exclaimed or explained why he couldn't.

"If you leave me out here, I'll just follow you in." Cloud charged his __barrier__ ever so slightly, when Genesis started fingering his wrist cuff.

"You will stay back, behind Zackary, and if there are any monsters like the last place we looked, Genesis and I will take care of them. __Stay back__." Sephiroth said sternly.

Cloud nodded. The most dangerous monster was the kind on two legs, anyway. He was going to keep an eye on that one.

They all headed in to the house, and Cloud hung back, while they tore the place apart. Between the monsters, and the men looking for something, the already derelict house became closer to total collapse. Then they found the safe, with the key to the basement. And…

"What __was__ that thing?" Zack asked, voice shaking a little, as he ran his hands nervously through his hair.

Genesis was obsessively checking and rechecking his materia braces and cuffs, and darting glances around the room. Sephiroth gripped masamune convulsively, his knuckles turning white.

"How was it __in the safe__? How did it even fit? __What__-"

"Zackary." Sephiroth interrupted quietly. "Let's try that key now. Stay behind us, and guard Cloud. If we find something like that in the basement, __leave__."

Zack nodded, a bit of his wide-eyed stare fading. They unlocked the no-longer-hidden door, and walked carefully down the creaky stairs. All the way to the basement. There were all those papers. Cloud wondered idly why Hojo had left everything in such a mess. The shelves of books were in disarray, some torn off the shelves and left on the floor. The files of research which should have been in a cabinet were strewn all over the room.

"Was a monster in here?" Zack asked, eyeing the mess.

Oh. Maybe that was it. Trust Zack to figure out something like that. Cloud probably should have realized that was what did it. The room had a kind of green haze to it. No, the room was probably the same, it was Cloud who was…

"-check out the rest of these, you two stay here."

"And don't touch any of the lab equipment, for all we know something is__living__ in the test tubes."

Zack settled onto a fairly safe looking crate, after prodding it with his sword. He pulled Cloud over to sit next to him. The room was hazy green, and Cloud could almost __see__ Hojo moving around, chortling as he...Cloud shook his head, and shivered. Zack wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Back here again, huh Zack." Cloud whispered, somewhere between __before __and now.

Zack startled. "You've been here before, Cloud?" He asked in horrified disbelief.

Cloud tried to hold back the hysterical laugh, but that just made it come at as more of a choked giggle. __Before__ in so many senses of the word.

"You mean the first part of the house, right? Not down here, how would you have..." Zack trailed off, and Cloud offered no explanation or answer. They sat there, waiting.

"-if you happen to recognize it, that __would__ save us time, we're rather short on it. Having another set of eyes looking would help, even if you don't." Genesis was saying, as he and Sephiroth, and...Vincent walked back into the room.

"Vincent." Cloud blinked. If he and Zack had ever seen the man while they were here, Cloud hadn't remembered it before. Surely Vincent would have mentioned it, all those years later.

"You know each other?" Sephiroth raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"I have been imprisoned in that room since before you were born; I have never met this child." Vincent tilted his head to one side, and looked curiously at Cloud.

"Well then, how would he know-"

Zack interrupted Genesis with a worried, "Guys, Cloud said he'd been here before."

The room seemed very quiet, all of a sudden. Then, Cloud thought someone might have said something to him, but he tuned it out, and went mute. He must have said something out loud. He focused on Genesis' presence. Zack and Cloud had been here before, __don't think about it__, and Sephiroth had been here before, and Vincent. But Genesis had never been down here, and so Cloud tried to bat the green haze away, and watch Genesis.

They were sifting through all the messy papers. Livea would have a __conniption__ if she could see the sorry state of these files. Genesis was checking the handwriting on them against one he was holding in his hand. __Hojo writing down what he had just done, smirking at...__They had emptied out some of the crates, and were throwing stacks of files into this or that one.

Genesis stilled. "Sephiroth." His voice sounded odd. Zack looked at him, but Genesis shook his head a little, and handed the comparison paper off to Vincent. Sephiroth and Genesis paged through the stack of "research", looking increasingly alarmed.

Cloud wondered which recorded atrocity they'd found. Now they had shown Vincent, who was also looking at it, less alarm, and more...resigned disgust. Oh, maybe they'd found Vincent's records. Cloud tucked his knees against his chest, and wrapped his arms around them. This was a terrible place. Why were they here? __Cold, and drowning in mako, and...__Cloud drifted, trying to stay in the present, the other's voices murmuring in the background. There hadn't been much talking, __before__, later on. And Genesis was here. Very close, actually. Hadn't he been across the room?

"Cloud. Cloud can you hear me?" Genesis was speaking to him, and Cloud wondered how long he'd been trying to get his attention. Cloud met his eyes, and nodded.

"Cloud, __who__ is going to destroy the world?" Genesis' tone was urgent, and there was something else there that Cloud couldn't identify.

"Sephi-"

"__Cloud__. Stop and think. __Who__ is going to destroy the world?"

Thinking clearly was impossible to do in this place. If Cloud was in his room, with Little Friend for company...he had gone to Shinra to kill Sephiroth. Because he was going to destroy the world. Because Jenova would...oh. Since that first scare by the reactor, when Cloud had woken on the Nibel slopes, he had put that creature as far out of his mind as possible. __Puppet__. He really __would __lose his mind if he had to think about the fact Jenova was still alive, and could control him. How was that possible, if he didn't have Hojo's meddling this time, anyway? It had all started here, __before__, with Hojo and Jenova, and then...but did Sephiroth go mad __because__ of Jenova? He hadn't burned Nibelheim until after...This __present__ Sephiroth didn't seem to like burning towns, or murdering people's mothers, and he kept insisting that he didn't want to destroy the world. Usually something about the weather. __What? __Cloud gulped, and tried to focus on the present moment. Genesis wanted to know something.

"What...was the question?" Cloud asked, hesitant.

"Who is going to destroy the world?" Genesis asked, patiently, but with an edge of…

"Jenova." Cloud answered.

"__Where__ did you learn about that?" Genesis looked into Cloud's eyes, intense.

"Here. The papers…" First it was the papers, then the town, then the reactor, then Hojo. Cloud had gone over that set of memories from four different people's recollections. That __was__ the order it happened, no matter how confusing that night had been.

Sephiroth let loose with a stream of invective that would have made __Cid__ blush. Zack was gaping, and Vincent had raised his eyebrows, and Genesis just looked grim. Cloud was startled enough, the green haze diminished slightly. Cloud didn't know Sephiroth __could __swear. Why was he, anyway?

"__How__ did you get down here? __Why...__" Genesis cut himself off with a choked sound. Then he shook the sheaf of papers in his hand a little. "Cloud, __this__, isn't right. Hojo meddled with things no one should __think__ about, let alone __do__. His research is __messed up__, and not even accurate, besides. Jenova is some kind of organism he took cell samples from, __not__ Sephiroth's mother. He's not going to do 'what she desires', it's just a jellied monster...__thing__." Genesis finished with disgust, rather than his usual eloquence.

Cloud shook his head desperately. "__She'll tell him to__, and__he will__, and then everything will be-"

"Let's kill it then." Sephiroth said coolly. "Does the 'research' say where it was kept, Genesis?"

Cloud gaped. He was going to kill "mother"? Cloud had __wanted__ to, but __the mind control__. "She's in the reactor, but I couldn't kill her." He said, something akin to despair in his voice. Sephiroth __wanted to kill the creature__, but she would __speak__, and then…

There was a beat of silence, then a jumble of voices.

"Of course you couldn't, you're just a-"

"__This__ reactor? That would make sense-"

"Something about this makes __sense__? You really-"

Cloud clapped his hands over his ears. Everyone talking so loudly had made an echo, and the dizzy, disconnected feeling was returning. When the room quieted, Cloud lowered his hands, and tried to breath evenly. He couldn't afford to drift off, this was too important.

Sephiroth spoke, quietly this time. "Genesis and I will go and-"

"**NO!** You can't go anywhere __near__ her! She'll take over your mind, then your body, then the world!" Cloud nearly shouted.

Zack looked between Cloud and Sephiroth worriedly. "I can go with Genesis, and-"

"__You're__ not going anywhere near something that could well be more dangerous than that __thing__ in the safe. This '__Jenova__' sounds like it has the capacity to be." Genesis said sternly to Zack.

They were at something of an impasse, then. It was far too dangerous for someone to go alone. What if they just decided to ignore Cloud's warnings? Cloud stumbled to his feet, and walked over to Sephiroth. He wrapped his hand around the man's wrist, and said desperately, "You can't go up to the reactor."

Cloud was small. And Zack was younger than last time, and if Sephiroth went mad, would Genesis stop him? Would he realize it was the beginning of the end?

"I shall go with Genesis Rhapsodos, and end Jenova." Said Vincent, a growling undertone to his voice.

To a man, they all startled. Vincent was standing off to the side, no longer sifting through the papers. __Cloud__ hadn't even noticed him, and he was used to the man skulking in corners. Cloud gripped Sephiroth's wrist tighter. "We'll stay here." Cloud said. Sephiroth and Genesis exchanged a speaking glance, but didn't disagree.

Genesis and Vincent left to make the hike to the reactor, and destroy Jenova. Cloud believed they would __try__, but...he sat near a table littered with papers, and clutched Sephiroth's wrist. If the man was __here__, then he wasn't off destroying...Zack and Sephiroth had worked out a system, where Zack would sort the files into rough categories, and shove them over to Sephiroth. He sorted through the stacks, one handed, and would drop them into different boxes, based on some criteria Cloud really didn't care enough about to learn. He was too busy thinking.

Contingencies weren't the same as escape routes. They were just plans that morphed and changed, and you changed with them. Cloud drifted from past to present, from Hojo and Sephiroth __before__, and the current situation, where it was all too possible Sephiroth would still...it would take several hours to travel to the reactor and back, and who knows how long to kill Jenova. If that was even possible. No one had ever managed it, __before__. They hadn't understood until too late. By then, the Planet was...Cloud clenched his hand tighter. Sephiroth continued to sort papers, seeming not at all bothered by the circulation slowly being cut off to his fingers.

"Cloud...why didn't you tell anyone about all this. You know, when you were telling us Sephiroth would..." Zack managed to get his attention, and then asked him. Zack was motioning to the papers, and looking puzzled.

Tell them? Tell them what, exactly? __Nibelheim burned__, and __Hojo cackled__, and __Jenova destroyed__, and __Aerith__, and __Meteor__. Amid all this, Cloud would shift from memory to memory, from his own personality to Zack's, and __Jenova was able to control him__. How do you explain the end of the world, and make sense?

"...You would have thought I was crazy."

Zack made a choking sound, and Sephiroth stilled. After a long pause, Sephiroth went calmly back to sorting papers. Zack, biting his lip, did as well.

Genesis and Vincent returned. Cloud stared. If Jenova was gone, wouldn't something have changed? Could they not do it?

"The creature is gone." Genesis said simply, grimly satisfied. "Have you found what we were looking for?"

No. You would think she was gone, but something would be left behind. A tentacle, a cluster of cells, __her head__. "Are you sure? There's nothing left?" Wouldn't something have happened, here? Sephiroth didn't even have a headache. Cloud hadn't heard Jenova __say anything__ to them. No begging, no desire for destruction, no…

Genesis stood straight, his posture erect, he gestured with his hands, and assumed a voice worthy of a theater performer. "Vincent and I did travel to the reactor, and behold: Jenova. A blue amorphous tentacle monster, asleep in containment. The streams of mako had crept up from the river below, and surrounded her prison with foreboding intent. With a mighty heave, I tore the doors off her cage, and stood guard while my fellow warrior blasted her with an impressive amount of ammo. Then, I took rapier, and sliced what was left into so much shredded..." He trailed off.

"Grass?" Zack chimed in helpfully.

"Not the right color, it was all rather blue. Then red. Anyway, then I blasted __that__ into ash with a fully mastered Fire. Vincent...used some kind of dark energy to swirl it around, and grind __that__ into powder. Then the mako surged into the containment unit, and swept it away." Genesis finished with a flowing hand motion, as if to demonstrate.

"You're sure she's absolutely dead?" Cloud asked worriedly. What if the Lifestream was poisoned again, now?

Genesis made a frustrated noise. "Minerva have mercy, __yes__, I'm-"

"**Jenova is gone, and will not trouble The Planet and its denizens again**." Growled Chaos. The others startled, and looked at Vincent in surprise.

That wasn't Vincent talking; Cloud looked into his eyes, and saw Chaos gleaming through. If __Chaos__ was sure Jenova was gone, she was__gone__. Cloud nodded to him in stunned disbelief. They nodded back.

Jenova was...gone. That was...Cloud's thoughts raced wildly. The threat was gone? Sephiroth wouldn't...or would he? Was there some kind of connection, even now? The background babble of people talking came to a swift halt, as Cloud scrambled closer to Sephiroth. Cloud's coordination was shot by now, so it was a clumsy grab for the collar of Sephiroth's shirt. Cloud pulled the man's face close enough he could see his eyes, very clearly. Very closely.

"Say you're going to avenge your mother Jenova and destroy the world." Cloud demanded.

Sephiroth blinked. His eyes were a vivid turquoise, and the pupils were round. "I'm going to avenge my mother Jenova and destroy the world." He said agreeably, conversationally.

Sephiroth's pupils stayed round. No color change. No cat-slit, green-toned alien possession. Cloud let out a gasping, choking noise, and fell back. The world had turned black-prickly instead of a mako-green haze, and…

Cloud probably hadn't lost consciousness, just became...insensible for awhile. He was breathing raggedly, and that was all he could focus on. Slowly he got that under control. When his breathing was quieter, and his heart wasn't pounding so loudly in his ears, he started to catch snippets of conversations.

"-we could leave all that stuff behind, put those boxes in the 'copter".

"-shouldn't leave it just lying around, who knows-"

"-I would be willing to ensure-"

Cloud thought he was probably leaning against someone's shoulder. His forehead was resting on a shoulder-like surface, anyway. They might have been rubbing his back. It was a little hard to tell, when Cloud felt like he might be floating above his body, instead of inside it. Yes, that's what was happening. Zack had done this __before__, after Hojo had…

"-we should just burn it all up and-"

"__Don't__ mention that when he might hear you, he's already-"

They should leave. If Jenova was gone, there was no reason to stay here. __This is the beginning of your nightmares__. Oh, Vincent. This was where __all__ the nightmares started. They should leave.

Cloud pulled away, and blinked dazedly at the men who were now all intensely focused on him. "We should leave. This is a terrible place to be." Cloud swiveled his head around, and located Sephiroth. He was closer than Cloud had expected. Cloud grabbed his wrist and headed for the stairs. Jenova gone or not, leaving Sephiroth alone in Shinra basement was a __bad idea__.

"Why don't you let Zack carry you out?" Genesis said, cajolingly.

__Carry him out?__ Cloud wobbled. Oh. He eyed the stairway and sighed. He could do it, it just wouldn't be easy. He shook his head.

"__I __would, but honestly, I think I did something to my back. If you won't let Sephiroth, at least Zack could-"

Cloud shook his head and interrupted. "Zack carried me out of here __before__. I'm__walking __out__.__"

He ignored Zack's splutters and Genesis' quiet fuming, and walked very carefully, painstakingly up the steps. No one was ever carrying him out of here again. He was also never coming back. He'd save up his gil and buy the place, and ask SOLDIER to demolish it. This was the __end__ of nightmares.

ooOOOoo

They had landed in Costa Del Sol. While the helicopter refueled, Cloud sipped one of those sickening beverages Freyra and...everyone was always pushing on him. They had found the needed paperwork, and were getting it to the doctor and Angeal as quickly as possible.

"So, I'm going to go and keep an eye on Angeal. They said this would definitely fix him, but he's going to be pretty sick still, until he's finished recovering. Okay?" Zack finished explaining, looking closely for Cloud's reaction.

Cloud nodded. He understood more than Zack realized. Cloud had __felt__ how much Zack adored Angeal. "You need to stay close. He's your mentor." Cloud concluded seriously.

Zack laughed, brightly. "That's an...__underwhelmish__ kind of word, Cloud."

That wasn't a word at all. Zack needed to spend more time around Genesis. Or Vincent.

"Where...is Vincent?" Cloud inquired. The ride here, and his state of mind hadn't been...up to paying attention to details like that.

"He was going to look at more of that creep's records, and find out what happened to a lady. Um, Lukatra, maybe?"

"Lucrecia." Cloud corrected.

"How you know stuff like that, but __don't notice__ when people leave the room, Cloud..." Zack trailed off, shaking his head. "Anyway, I'm going off to Angeal, you don't try and kill __your__ __mentor __anymore, huh?" Zack smiled, teasingly, ruffling Cloud's hair.

"My mentor?" Cloud asked, confused.

"Come on, Cloud, when Angeal was showing me cool sword tricks, what was Sephiroth doing, huh? When Angeal was talking about tactics, what were you and Sephiroth talking about? When-"

Cloud blinked in __realization__. Oh, __that's__ what all that was. Cloud knew he had been missing something. He had __known__ that Zack would have known what it all meant.

"You're really good at this kind of stuff, Zack." Cloud smiled at him.

"-who were you doing it with? What...oh." Zack looked at him, puzzled. Then shrugged. "That's right, I'm the boss." He posed, then pointed a finger at Cloud. "Don't you forget it."

"I'll try not to." Cloud agreed, seriously. He probably wouldn't, now.

"So, Sephiroth is to you what Angeal is to me." Zack explained, waving his hands a bit. "Except maybe more so, because you know, you're little. Er, young that it. Younger. You're a little younger than me." He raked his hand through his hair and grinned.

Cloud narrowed his eyes. __What__. "I'm going to hit my growth spurt any day now."

Zack unsuccessfully tried to muffle his snickers. Cloud sent a teeny-tiny __bolt__ at him.

"YOUCH!" Zack yelped.

"Boys." Genesis and Sephiroth had finished their long, quiet conversation just out of range of hearing, and had come back to where Zack and Cloud were sitting.

"The helicopter has refueled, and Zackary and I must be leaving. One of us has to help Lazard keep SOLDIER and Weapon Development running, and honestly, I'm far better at that than Sephiroth." Genesis finished airily.

"A bureaucrat in the making. How sad I have not made as good a one as you." Sephiroth's mouth tilted up on one side.

Genesis harrumphed. Then turned to Cloud. "I'll take my long-due vacation time after Angeal is better. Sephiroth is going to take his now." He paused. "We all really think you should also, Cloud. Are you alright to spend time with him now, or is there still..." Genesis trailed off.

Cloud considered. This would be...different. Maybe that was a good thing. Easier to stay in the present, if it had so little in similarity to the past. He nodded.

After the helicopter had gotten distant enough it could hardly be heard, he and Sephiroth were still sitting there. It was a partially shaded table, so not too hot, but it was still a bright sunny day. Cloud hadn't been outside in a long time. Midgar didn't have very good air quality, so if you wanted "fresh air" you really had to go past the wastes. He'd been on house arrest for so long…

"It really is a beautiful day. I don't think I could bring myself to destroy the world today." Sephiroth said, looking at Cloud out of the corner of his eye.

For the first time, without being prompted, Cloud played along. Mostly. "Jenova is gone, I won't try to kill you, today." Cloud smiled faintly. This was a ridiculous tradition. No wonder Zack liked it.

Sephiroth made a humming noise in the back of his throat. "Is there somewhere you would prefer we go, rather than here?" He inquired casually, pleasantly.

Actually...the weather was lovely, but Costa Del Sol was brimming with tourists. It was the busy season, and there were people everywhere. There was somewhere else the weather and countryside was supposed to be really nice… "We could go to Mideel." Cloud suggested, hesitantly.

Sephiroth turned to him in surprise. "You wouldn't mind going, now?"

That was an odd emphasis; Cloud asked for clarification, "What do you mean, __now__?"

"Cloud, we've been trying to convince you to go to Mideel for __quite__ __some time__. Why do think Freyra talks about it so much?"

That woman had talked his ear off about the place. Cloud was pretty sure he could find his way around the town blindfolded. "I thought she was homesick." It was meant as a statement, but came out a bit like a question.

Sephiroth's shoulders shook, and he covered his mouth with a hand and rubbed his upper lip.

"What did I miss this time?" Cloud asked flatly, but without ire.

Sephiroth stopped not-laughing. He said hesitantly, "There is...a clinic there, that we'd like you to visit. __Not__ like the Science Department before the purge, just some people who genuinely like to make people well." He looked at Cloud, gauging his reaction.

Cloud knew Sephiroth well enough to trust the man would say loony-bin if that's what it was. More diplomatically phrased, but...so probably pretty harmless. What was wrong with his head probably wasn't quite something that could be fixed, but what would Cloud know? The extent of his medical knowledge was based on Hojo's mad ramblings.

He did feel kind of ill. That had been a very bad episode, back in the old Shinra mansion basement. But...he hadn't forgotten who he was. Where and when, but only his own awful memories swam around his head. Cloud preferred it that way. He __liked__ not having to share his mind anymore. If he remembered more of his own experiences he had previously forgotten, well...it was worth the price. He was mostly suffering from the aftermath of feeling so disconnected. It would pass.

Freyra had spoken extensively about the different clinics there. He thought, if what she said was accurate, that one of them might be able to help with that. He felt unwell, and considering how poorly he had taken care of himself...the '__nagging list__' came to mind. Cloud nodded.

"Okay."

Sephiroth blinked, then his mouth started twitching again. "Alright, then."

"It...will be nice to have some peace and quiet." Cloud explained.

"No wars looming on the horizon, or the destruction of the world." Sephiroth added conversationally.

"No planning people's deaths, or decimating terrorist organizations."

"So, we'll just get some peace and quiet. That __does__ sound nice." Sephiroth agreed.

"Yeah," Cloud said. "It's a plan."


End file.
